The Terrible Precedent Set By Congressman Joe Garcia

The past two years have been turbulent ones for Congressman Joe Garcia and his staff. An absentee ballot scandal in 2012 led his chief of staff, long time friend and confidante Jeff Garcia to a ninety day prison sentence as part of a plea agreement. Other staffers were being investigated by authorities and in order to avoid possible legal entanglements have agreed through their attorneys to extend their statute of limitations.  At the same time officials are reported to be looking into the role the 2010 Joe Garcia congressional campaign played in the placing of a tea party ringer candidate into the race in order to divide up the Republican vote. Despite all of this and Congressman Garcia hiring of a criminal defense attorney, David Markus, he claims to no longer be under investigation but news accounts say different. This is not the Florida 26th Congressional District's first rodeo, but when candidates get desperate in a heated campaign they do things sometimes that harm others and later come back to haunt them.

Joe Garcia did something on October 27, 2014 that no Cuban-American congressperson has ever done by placing a Cuban dissident in a paid political advertisement as an endorsement to advance his own candidacy. The campaign's press release was clear:  "Today, the Joe Garcia for Congress campaign announced that ... Guillermo “El Coco” Fariñas, ... had declared his support for Representative Joe Garcia. Unfortunately, it also turns out to not to be true or as one blogger declared "bogus."  Fariñas in a statement issued today stated:

"I, at no time of the advertisement in question appear asking for a vote for either of the two candidates in particular, therefore, it is clear that I am  not meddling in said elections."

Over twitter "El Coco" stated:

"The statements emitted about Joe García are a personal criteria and not a Political Campaign. The same opinion I would have said about his opponent."

At the same time another dissident, while supporting Fariñas's right to his opinion expressed grave concerns about Joe Garcia as:

"a person who is promoting what the people do not need to be free ... the policy promoted by Joe Garcia lamentably seeks closeness with the regime and not the opposition ... and that is what a great part of the Cuban people and opposition think."

Unlike other members of the Cuban-American congressional delegation Joe Garcia is the only one who has accepted campaign donations from avowed supporters of the Castro dictatorship. The FEC reports show [Francisco Aruca of Marazul] donated $5,000 to Garcia in 2012 and attorney Ira Kurzban, who legally represents Fidel Castro and his interests in the United States gave $3,700 to Garcia. There are others who on camera declare their support and sympathy for Fidel Castro and give thousands to Joe Garcia's campaign such as John Cabañas whose video appears at the top of the page.

Until October 27, 2014 no member of congress had engaged in using a dissident to advance their political campaigns in a paid political advertisement. This sets a terrible precedent that I hope is never repeated. If in the future candidates are dividing dissidents in Cuba over partisan races in the United States and relegating the cause of Cuban freedom to a talking point then historians will look back to the Joe Garcia for Congress and their actions on October 27, 2014 and say this is where it started, and it will be a great shame.

I will be voting for Carlos Curbelo in this election and recommend all fair minded people who are Democrats, Republicans, Independents, etc. to do the same and demonstrate that this course of action is a vote loser and hopefully stop this becoming a trend.

Ira Kurzban, who legally represents the abuser himself, Fidel Castro, and his interests in the United States and gave $3,700 in donations. - See more at: http://www.politicalcortadito.com/2014/07/29/what-hypocrite-joe-garcia-didnt-tell-cuban-dissident-he-met/#sthash.Ne7aUiKI.dpuf

Ira Kurzban, who legally represents the abuser himself, Fidel Castro, and his interests in the United States and gave $3,700 in donations. - See more at: http://www.politicalcortadito.com/2014/07/29/what-hypocrite-joe-garcia-didnt-tell-cuban-dissident-he-met/#sthash.Ne7aUiKI.dpufattorney Ira Kurzban, who legally represents the abuser himself, Fidel Castro, and his interests in the United States and gave $3,700 in donations.

Former Cuban prisoners of conscience arbitrarily detained

Daughter tweeted tonight about her dad's arbitrary detention at the hands of  State Security along with three other activists

Tonight Sayli Navarro reported on detention of four activists

 The total number of Cubans arbitrarily detained in 2012 is greater than the totals for 2010 and 2011 combined. The Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation on Tuesday reported a total of 6,035 detentions so far in 2012. The arbitrary detentions of nonviolent activists in Cuba can be expected to continue and increase as International Human Rights Day (December 10) approaches.

Sayli with her dad Felix Navarro who is in jail tonight

Tonight over the course of four hours Sayli Navarro, the daughter of former prisoner of conscience Felix Navarro, lost contact with her father and an hour later began to tweet as new details emerged. The worry that his disappearance caused, of what could be happening to him along with other activists and the knowledge that they must have been taken by State Security. She reported how her father must have been detained along with other former prisoners of conscience Librado Linares, Ivan Hernandez Carillo and Sakharov prize winner Guillermo Fariñas because their whereabouts were unknown and their cell phones were not functioning.

Librado Linares and Ivan Hernandez Carillo detained with Sayli's dad

Sayli would learn from opposition activist, Jorge Luis Artiles Montiel, that 3 Ladies in White along with six other activists had initiated a sit-in in front of the Third Union of Santa Clara to protest the arrest of the four activists.

An hour later Sayli tweets that Jesus Hernandez has told her that a State Security official in Villa Clara who goes by the name of Pablo Hechemendia is confirming that the four dissidents have been detained in Matanzas.

Finally, in her last tweet at 10:26pm Sayli reports that  the state security agent Lieutenant Colonel Pablo Hechemendia assures that tomorrow at 8:00 am the four detainees will be released.

Three of the four men detained were Amnesty International prisoners of conscience imprisoned during the Cuban Black Spring in 2003 and sentenced to long prison sentences for their nonviolent activism. They refused to go into exile spending more time in prison with no guarantee of an early release.

Another Empty Chair: 2010 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought

Empty chair in Strasbourg for Guillermo Fariñas

Human rights − 15-12-2010 - 13:44
Plenary sessions

Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas, this year's winner of the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, had to be represented by an empty chair at the prize award ceremony on Wednesday as he did not receive permission to leave his country and travel to Strasbourg to receive the prize.

"Even though activists like Guillermo Fariñas are persecuted and are imprisoned, their voice cannot be silenced. The role of the European Parliament is to amplify that voice", said European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek.

"The Sakharov Prize is the trademark of the European Parliament in the fight for human rights all over the world. The empty chair for this year's laureate Guillermo Farinas is the best example of how important this fight is", added the president.

Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, made today the following statement:

"I would like to congratulate Guillermo Farinas on receiving the 2010 Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament in the name of all those who fight in Cuba for greater freedom and human rights. I regret that he has not been able to travel to Strasbourg to receive his prize in person.

The EU will continue to raise human rights in the EU-Cuba political dialogue and in bilateral meetings with the Cuban authorities at every level, including the situation of political prisoners, freedom of expression and ratification of the international bill of human rights. In this context, I welcome the recent release of a number of political prisoners in Cuba and I hope that the process will lead to the unconditional release of all political prisoners."



Addressing MEPs in a recorded message, Mr Fariñas expressed his gratitude to the European Parliament "for not abandoning the Cuban people in these more than 50 years of the struggle for democracy". He explained that he had accepted the Sakharov Prize for the Freedom of Thought "because I feel myself to be a tiny part of the rebellious spirit that nourishes the people I am proud to belong to."

Mr Fariñas criticised the government in Havana, saying "Unluckily for those who misgovern us in our own homeland the fact that I cannot leave and return voluntarily to the island where I was born is, in itself, the most irrefutable witness to the fact that unfortunately, nothing has changed in the autocratic system ruling my country."

He called on MEPs "not allow themselves to be deceived by the siren songs of a cruel regime practising 'wild communism'" when analysing EU policy towards Cuba. According to Mr Fariñas, a change of direction in these relations should only occur if the following five pre-conditions are met:

• the release, without banishment, of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, with a public commitment never to imprison non-violent political opponents;
• an end to the violent beatings of and threats to the peaceful opposition;
• an announcement that all Cuban laws that contravene the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be reviewed and repealed;
• granting the means, in daily practice, for establishing opposition parties, mass media not subordinate to the 'State socialism' system, independent trade unions and any other kind of peaceful social bodies;
• public acknowledgment that all Cubans living in the diaspora have the right to take part in Cuba's cultural, economic, political and social life.

Guillermo Fariñas

A doctor of psychology and a journalist, 48-year-old Guillermo Fariñas has denounced the Castro regime. He is the founder of "Cubanacán Press," an independent press agency aimed at raising awareness of the fate of political prisoners in Cuba.

Mr Fariñas has spent years in confinement and has gone on hunger strike 23 times so far as a non-violent means of fighting oppression in Cuba. His efforts to secure free internet for all earned him a Reporters Without Borders Cyber-Freedom Prize in 2006.

In July 2010, Mr Fariñas nearly died after a five-month-long hunger strike he began on 24 February, following the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a fellow political activist who passed away after 80 days of hunger strike. He ended the strike after the Cuban government gave in to his plea and released 52 political prisoners.

Guillermo Fariñas is the third winner from Cuba to receive the €50,000 prize, after Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas in 2002 and Ladies in White in 2005.

Empty chair ceremony - not the first time in the European Parliament

This is not the first time that the Sakharov Prize has been awarded in the absence of the laureate. In 2008 China's most prominent human rights activists, Hu Jia, was also not able to take part in the ceremony as he was incarcerated, but a video message from his wife Zeng Jinyan was played to MEPs. For other winners, such as Aung San Suu Kyi in 1990 and Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) in 2005, close family members or representatives took part in the ceremony but up to now the winners have still not received the prize in person.

The Sakharov Prize

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named in honour of the Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, has been awarded by the European Parliament every year since 1988 to individuals or organisations who have made an important contribution to the fight for human rights or democracy.

For additional information visit http://www.europarl.europa.eu/en/pressroom/content/20101215IPR10149/html/Empty-chair-in-Strasbourg-for-Guillermo-Fari%C3%B1as

The Juan Juan Almeida Affair: Dying to Live

A Hunger Strike for access to health care & family














Juan Juan Almeida is in Miami with his family and in the process of obtaining much needed medical care for a degenerative autoimmune/inflammatory disease: ankylosing spondylitis which the Cuban healthcare system was unable (or unwilling) to treat. Human rights activists and dissidents have been left emaciated through a process of ill treatment resulting in malnutrition and in at least one case paraplegic. To avoid their fate this son of past priviledge had to undergo a water only hunger strike and risk death to save his life and see his family again.

Although Juan Juan Almeida was the son of one of the political insiders of the Cuban dictatorship and Fidel Castro's godson he had fallen out of favor with the regime. When his father, Comandante Juan Almeida died, he was kicked out of his father's funeral. Despite a nice home and family abroad was otherwise treated not like one of the well connected but like an average Cuban. No longer able to travel freely since 2003 nor given access to state of the art health care available to the nomenklatura and foreigners. Human Rights Watch documented the travel restrictions placed on him in their 2010 report.

As years passed and the degenerative disease progressed and the risk of being physically crippled increased along with the pain. Juan Juan began to protest his situation. Escalating into new tactics over time and finally arriving at the ultimate non-violent method of protest: the water only hunger strike. Since, he was not in prison, he was able to announce his hunger strike on camera and issue his specific demands which were to be able to travel out of Cuba to see a doctor and embrace his family.



He was able to provide periodic updates like the one below given to Yoani Sanchez six days into the hunger strike.



After beginning the hunger strike he would still resort to some of his earlier high profile tactics, for example, taking to the streets demanding his right to travel. His relationship with prominent Cuban bloggers like Claudia Cadelo and Yoani Sanchez let the world know and see first hand his protests. Eventually he would begin his own blog and communicate to the world.



There are a number of factors of why his hunger strike ended with his arrival in Miami and not his death unlike the case of Orlando Zapata Tamayo. It is important to analyze what were the different factors and circumstances that led to the different outcomes.


Michael Nagler in his course an Introduction to Nonviolence filmed in the fall of 2006 offers a great analysis of fasts and hunger strikes beginning at 46 minutes 38 seconds, and is highly recommended for a deeper understanding of fasts and hunger strikes. In the video Nagler offers a word of caution: "Nonviolence is not a feel good operation its very scientific you have to know when to do what."

Nagler's Five rules for Hunger strikes

1. Have to be the right person for the job. Not to be used by just anybody.
2. Right audience. (You should only fast against someone who was in sympathy with you on a very deep level. Gandhi never fasted against the British.)
3. Doable demand
4. Last Resort
5. Consistent with the rest of your life

Nagler describes fasting unto the death within nonviolence:

"This is not a case of suicide. You are not killing yourself. You are risking death. What you are doing is putting your life into the hands of another person." ... "You are not killing yourself but you are saying to the person that your behavior is so unacceptable that if you continue it its going to kill me. It is an extreme case of taking on the suffering that is in a situation." ...This is different from a threat because what you are saying to the person is "I am going to exhibit to you mirror back to you the ultimate consequences of what you are doing." ... "This is an act of truth. You are killing us - you are killing our people and I'm going to show you that you are doing it to awaken your conscience."...Thats why you have to be carrying on a conversation on a nonverbal level.

There are no guarantees in nonviolent resistance as there are not in violent resistance but in studying the terrain and observing the strategy and tactics carried out one can gain an idea of what the likelihood is of success. In the case of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, imprisoned and cut off from the rest of the world with no ties to the dictatorship and years of principled non-violent opposition. This method of protest was consistent with the rest of his life. His demands were doable: stop torturing him and provide decent care to him and other prisoners. It was a last resort after nearly seven years of torture, beatings, and degradation. However, he did not have the right audience: according to Nagler you should only fast against someone who has sympathy with you on a deep level.

Now in the case of Guillermo Fariñas, he was not imprisoned therefore could communicate his strike to the world, but was also someone that the regime did not have ties of affection. On the other hand Juan Juan Almeida did have those ties, as Fidel Castro's godson and the son of one of the Comandante's of the revolution. A man without a history of violence making his protest in line with the rest of his life. Although not a guarantee that they would not let him die it increases his chances of success over both Orlando Zapata Tamayo and Guillermo Fariñas.

Nevertheless Orlando Zapata Tamayo's death shook the dictatorship and in that aftermath increased the odds for both Guillermo and Juan Juan's successful hunger strikes, but in the absence of the Zapata non-violent moment it would have been Juan Juan Almeida with the better chance to succeed.



Nevertheless, it required an escalation to a total hunger strike on August 9, 2010 and hospitalization along with the mediation of Cardinal Jaime Ortega for Juan Juan Almeida to be granted permission to travel and obtain the health care and reunification with his family that he had been asking for since 2003.

Two political prisoners of the dictatorship in Cuba are dying on hunger strike

End the silence on their plight and help save their lives












Egberto Escobedo Morales (above photo)

The world knows about Guillermo Fariñas and his hunger strike demanding the liberation of 26 of Cuba's prisoners of conscience who are deathly ill, but the world does not know much of Cuban political prisoners today on deaths door carrying out hunger strikes in the same manner as Orlando Zapata Tamayo. There are two whose health status and situation are extremely precarious and deserve attention.

Political prisoners Egberto Escobedo Morales at the Cerámica Roja prison in Camagüey and Juan Ramón Rivero de Espaigne at the Mar Verde prison in Santiago de Cuba have been on prolonged hunger strikes. Both prisoners have exhibited a marked deterioration in their health.

Egberto Escobedo Morales imprisoned since 1993 has been on hunger strike, as of today May 25, 2010, for 40 days protesting "the subhuman conditions in Castro's prisons" and is being denied the medical attention required considering his health status.



Egberto's mother Noris Morales, is asking the international community to help so that "what happened to Orlando Zapata Tamayo (who recently died after a long hunger strike in Cuba) is not allowed to happen to her son."

Juan Ramón Rivero de Espaigne initiated the hunger strike on May 4, 2010 and was "brutally beaten by his jailers and state security agents ten days later on May 14, 2010. Prisoner of conscience Luis Enrique Ferrer García held at the same prison as Juan Ramón speaking in a recording turned into the Cuban Democratic Directorate states: "he was insulted, beaten to the floor and immobilized by various guards. Rivero de Espaigne continues on hunger strike, he is urinating blood, without medical attention, very thin, and subject to mistreatment and abuse.

According to Kerrie Howard, Americas Deputy Director at Amnesty International: "Cuban laws impose unacceptable limits on the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. Cuba desperately needs political and legal reform to bring the country in line with basic international human rights standards. The long imprisonment of individuals solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights is not only a tragedy in itself but also constitutes a stumbling block to other reforms, including the beginning of the dialogue needed for the lifting of the US unilateral embargo against Cuba."

Back in 1999, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet declared at a press conference in Havana, Cuba: 'Si un gobierno encarcela injustamente, el deber de un hombre justo es la cárcel' [If a government unjustly imprisons, the obligation of the just man is prison]. He would go on to serve a three year prison sentence for holding a press conference later in 1999 be released for less than a month in 2002 only to be rearrested and sentenced to 25-years in prison which he is unjustly serving today.

At a time when the dictatorship in Cuba is willing to discuss the possibility of releasing political prisoners it is also a good time to discuss repealing the laws that will guarantee a new batch of political prisoners or the re-imprisonment of prisoners of conscience simply for exercising their fundamental human rights.

"Under a government that imprisons any man unjustly , the true place for a just man is also a prison" - Henry David Thoreau

Update June 16, 2010: Frances Robles reported in The Miami Herald June 15, 2010 that "Egberto Angel Escobedo completed his 17th year in a Cuban prison last Friday, and his 56th day of a hunger strike." The article also informs "Escobedo is having trouble breathing, is suffering from a kidney stone passed earlier this month. He pleaded to be taken to a hospital but was returned to his cell block."