"The first victory we can claim is that our hearts are free of hatred. Hence we say to those who persecute us and who try to dominate us: ‘You are my brother. I do not hate you, but you are not going to dominate me by fear. I do not wish to impose my truth, nor do I wish you to impose yours on me. We are going to seek the truth together’. THIS IS THE LIBERATION WHICH WE ARE PROCLAIMING."
Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas (2002)
Mother of three sentenced to four years in prison for her nonviolent political activism
Aymara Nieto Muñoz: Political prisoner and mom of three girls
The Municipal Court of Boyeros, in Havana, Cuba on April 25, 2019 confirmed a sentence of four years in prison for Aymara Nieto Muñoz. This mother of three young daughters is a member of the Ladies in White, a human rights movement that seeks freedom for all political prisoners in Cuba.
Aymara Nieto with her family back in September 2016
The first time I heard of Aymara Nieto was on September 20, 2015 when she along with three other activists risked everything to reach Pope Francis and receive his blessing. Scores of activists had been rounded up by the secret police to prevent them attending mass, but Aymara and three other activists managed to evade capture and one of them was able to reach His Holiness.
In April 2016 she was interviewed in the Sun Herald and spoke of what she was thinking on September 20, 2015 when she joined three others shouting freedom and sought the Pope's blessing. “In my heart, I was hurting,” Nieto said in an interview last week. “I was hurting watching my neighbors who didn’t have food for their children to eat. There is too much pain to see.”
Text of decision by Cuban court that reveals political nature of the trial
She was arbitrarily detained on July 12, 2016 and would not see her family in freedom again until July 12, 2017. She had been the victim of a political prosecution that punished her for speaking critically of the socialist system and passing out information.
Aymara Nieto with her mom when she returned home in July 2017
The next time Aymara was taken by the secret police she was beaten and tortured. Her crime: trying to be a poll watcher during a regime run vote on March 11, 2018. The
effort to stop the poll watchers, although poll watching is permitted
under current electoral law in Cuba, is an outrage.
Ladies in White leader Berta Soler tweeted that Cuban State Security "tortured Lady in White Aymara Nieto [placing
her] under the sun, handcuffed inside a patrol car." Targeting independent poll watchers was also repeated by the secret police in 2019 during the so-called constitutional referendum.
On May 6, 2018 the secret police raided Aymara's home, beat her up and took her. Aymara by that time had joined the Cuba Decide Campaign initiative, was active in both UNPACU and the Ladies in White. She would remain in prison and be subjected to a political show trial and a sentence of four years imposed on this courageous woman. She is not alone.
Five members of the Ladies in White are now unjustly imprisoned.
There are currently five members of the Ladies in White in prison in Cuba. They are Marta Sánchez, Nieves Matamoros, Yolanda Santana, Xiomara Cruz Miranda and Aymara Nieto. It is also important to remember that their founding leader, Laura Inés Pollán Toledo, died under suspicious circumstances on October 14, 2011.
Below is video from 2017 when Aymara went back home and was reunited with her family. Let us work together to see a second reunion. Please let others know of her plight and share the hashtag #FreeAymaraNieto.
"Service is never ideological, for we do not serve ideas, we serve people" - Pope Francis, Homily in Havana, September 20, 2015
Yriade Hernández of UNPACU beaten by state security Sunday
On Sunday, October 11, 2015 over 300 nonviolent Cuban dissidents were arrested in Cuba, many of them violently. They were arrested for peacefully calling for the release of Cuba's political prisoners and in particular three Cuban dissidents who remain jailed for approaching Pope Francis and calling attention to the real and ongoing problems in Cuba that the dictatorship would like covered up. Below is the called made by Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer García calling on people of good will to demand their release and not remain silent. May the conscience of good people not be numbed.
Zaqueo Baez Guerrero, Ismael Bonet Rene and Maria Josefa Acón Sardiñas
SOS Three innocent lives at risk in Cuba.
This call for help for the lives of three humble and nonviolent
Cubans is addressed to Pope Francis, to the governments of the free
world, to organizations defending human rights and all people of good
will.
On the morning of Sunday September 20th, within minutes from the
start of the first Mass by Pope Francis in Cuba, three residents of
Calabazar village in the Cuban capital, with Biblical names and members
of a cell of the pro-democracy organization Patriotic Union of Cuba,
UNPACU, named “Felix Varela” passed through Security rings without
hurting anyone and approached the Bishop of Rome with the intention of
calling attention to the things that make our country a hell for the
lives of most Cubans.
Zaqueo Baez Guerrero, Ismael Bonet Rene and the outstanding Lady in
White Maria Josefa Acón Sardiñas, wanted the Supreme Pontiff, the
foreign press, and through this, the world, to know that in Cuba there
are political prisoners who survive in subhuman conditions, that we live
under a harsh dictatorship that tramples the rights and fundamental
freedoms of human beings, and that the repressive forces beat nonviolent women and men who just dream about a fraternal, fair, democratic and
prosperous Cuba.
These three good Cubans, Zaqueo, Ismael and Maria, are on hunger
strike as of Sunday September 20th, and later also of thirst, in the
infamous center for “investigations” at Aldabó and 100th Street in
Havana. They are accused of assault, disrespect, public disorder and
resistance. Their lives are in grave danger. With their strike they are
sending a clear message: they are not willing to serve prison time for
an action to which they were compelled by the criminal methods of the
Castro regime and the indifferent attitude towards the suffering of the
victims of repression displayed by institutions and personalities that
have a sacred duty to condemn abuses, all affronts to human dignity, and
to always be “good Samaritans”.
In an open letter to His Holiness Pope Francis, dated September 3rd, we
had already warned: “Many members of our organization and other groups
of independent civil society wish to attend your masses with discipline and
respect, but the secret political police will prevent
them as happened during the visit of your predecessor Benedict XVI. On
behalf of those who could spend the days of your historic visit in dark
dungeons, we also, from now, give you our warmest welcome.”
We had also written to the Cuban Bishops in order to inform them on
the brutal beatings and even torture against nonviolent human rights
defenders. The same day of the arrival of the Successor of Peter to
Havana, many dissidents were surrounded, and that same evening Berta
Soler, Martha Beatriz Roque and Miriam Leyva were arrested. The three
had been invited by the Church to be among those who would welcome the
Argentinian Pope on his arrival in the Nunciature. All this was
convincing Zaqueo, Maria and Ismael that there was no choice: They had
to raise the cry of an enslaved people in that square.
Zacchaeus and his wife Mary received permanent surveillance since the
day before, only the correctness of their intention, and perhaps their
biblical names and that of the UNPACU cell they belong to (Felix
Varela), could make it possible for them to avoid so many agents of the
secret political police and get to Francis on that Sunday morning.
Gallant Zaqueo rose to reach the representative of Christ, of whom he
had heard was a fair man, concerned about the persecuted and oppressed
of the earth.
Mary, like the mother of Jesus, suffered long ago the Stations of the
Cross of her people, her sisters the Ladies in White and her own.
Countless are the arbitrary arrests, beatings and other forms of cruel
and inhumane treatment. Ishmael, like Abraham’s son, knows what it means
to wander in the wilderness, be expelled, to live without rights, so he
thought he should overcome the fear that paralyzes, (John Paul II told
us: Do not be afraid), and that Sunday to do for his country what he had
never done and we all should do. Ismael thought, God will hear me.
The preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads:
“Whereas it is essential that human rights should be protected by the
rule of law, so that man is not compelled to have recourse to rebellion
against tyranny and oppression.” In Cuba we have a regime that blatantly
and cynically violates the civil and political rights, but also
economic, social and cultural rights. The Castro regime’s abuses
committed against the people are more than enough for Cubans to rebel
against injustice. Cuban democrats are people of peace convinced that
violence is never the best solution, so we persevere in our nonviolent
struggle in the midst of hatred and brutal repression.
Zaqueo, Maria and Ismael wanted (and succeeded in doing so, and all
Cubans are indebted to them), to draw attention to our difficult
reality. A complex reality that when a healthy solution is not sought in
time, ends fatally producing extreme situations like the one we see
today in Syria. Situations that the Pope, and all people of good will,
rightly condemn. Zaqueo, Maria and Ismael gave a prophetic cry, alerted
everyone and told us with their action: It’s okay to rejoice with the
process of normalization of relations between the US government and the
Cuban regime, but do not forget the victims of violations of human
rights, nor harbor any illusion that only that process will end the
suffering of an oppressed people.
Zaqueo, Maria and Ismael were arrested before Pope Francis and
before several television cameras. The images were seen around the
world. Now they have undergone 11 days on hunger strike and 6 without
consuming water. Dozens of nonviolent activists are now victims of
repressive actions for demanding their release. We fear for their
lives. Therefore this SOS, is aimed at every person of good will.
Thank you so much.
Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia.
General Coordinator of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU)
Original Spanish text:
SOS por tres vidas inocentes que corren grave peligro en Cuba. Este pedido de auxilio por las vidas de tres humildes y pacíficos
cubanos va dirigido al Papa Francisco, a gobiernos del mundo libre, a
organizaciones defensoras de los derechos humanos y a toda persona de
buena voluntad.
En la mañana del pasado domingo 20 de septiembre, cuando apenas
faltaban minutos para el inicio de la primera misa del Papa Francisco en
Cuba, tres ciudadanos vecinos del poblado de Calabazar, en la Capital
cubana, con nombres bíblicos y miembros de una Célula de la organización
prodemocrática Unión Patriótica de Cuba, UNPACU, que lleva por nombre
“Félix Varela”, franquearon los anillos de seguridad sin dañar a nadie y
se acercaron al Obispo de Roma con la intención de llamar la atención
sobre las cosas que hacen de nuestra patria un infierno para la vida de
la mayoría de los cubanos.
Zaqueo Báez Guerrero, Ismael Bonet Reñé y la también destacada Dama
de Blanco María Josefa Acón Sardiñas, querían que el Sumo Pontífice, la
prensa extranjera, y a través de ésta, el mundo, supiesen que en Cuba sí
hay presos políticos y que sobreviven en condiciones infrahumanas, que
vivimos bajo una férrea dictadura que pisotea los derechos y libertades
fundamentales del ser humano, que las fuerzas represivas golpean a
mujeres y hombres pacíficos que solo sueñan con una Cuba fraterna,
justa, democrática y próspera.
Estos tres buenos cubanos: Zaqueo, Ismael y María, desde el domingo
20 de septiembre se encuentran en huelga de hambre, y después también de
sed, en el tristemente célebre centro de “investigaciones” de 100 y
Aldabó, en La Habana. Los acusan de Atentado, Desacato, Desorden Público
y Resistencia. Sus vidas corren grave peligro. Con la huelga envían un
claro mensaje, no están dispuestos a cumplir prisión por una acción a la
que se vieron compelidos por el criminal actuar del régimen de los
Castro y por la indiferente postura ante el sufrimiento de las víctimas
de la represión, de instituciones y personalidades que tienen el sagrado
deber de condenar todo abuso, todo atentado contra la dignidad humana, y
ser siempre “buenos samaritanos”.
En carta abierta a Su Santidad el Papa Francisco, con fecha 3 de
Septiembre, ya lo habíamos advertido: “Muchos miembros de nuestra
organización y de otras agrupaciones de la Sociedad Civil Independiente,
desean asistir, con disciplina y respeto, a sus misas, pero la policía
política secreta se lo impedirá como ocurrió durante la visita de su
predecesor Benedicto XVI. En nombre de los que pudieran pasar los
históricos días de su visita en tenebrosos calabozos, le damos también,
desde ahora, la más cálida bienvenida.”
También habíamos escrito a los Obispos cubanos con la intención de
informarles sobre brutales golpizas y hasta torturas contra pacíficos
defensores de los derechos humanos. El mismo día de la llegada del
Sucesor de Pedro a La Habana, se cerraron los cercos entorno a muchos
disidentes y esa misma tarde eran detenidas Berta Soler, Martha Beatriz
Roque y Mirian Leyva. Las tres invitadas por la Iglesia a estar entre
las personas que darían la bienvenida al Papa argentino a su llegada a
la Nunciatura. Todo esto fue convenciendo a Zaqueo, María e Ismael de
que no había otra opción: Tenían que alzar el clamor de un pueblo
esclavo en aquella plaza.
Zaqueo y su esposa María tenían vigilancia permanente desde el día
anterior, solo la justeza de su intención, y quizás sus nombres bíblicos
y el de la Célula de la UNPACU a la que pertenecen (Félix Varela),
pudieron hacer posible que burlaran a tantos agentes de la policía
política secreta y llegaran hasta Francisco aquella mañana dominical. El
noble Zaqueo se elevó para llegar al representante de Cristo de quien
había oído que era un hombre justo preocupado por los perseguidos y
oprimidos de la tierra.
María, como la madre de Jesús, sufre hace mucho tiempo por el Vía
Crucis de su pueblo, de sus hermanas Damas de Blanco y por el suyo
propio. Incontables son las detenciones arbitrarias, las golpizas y
otros tratos crueles e inhumanos de los que ha sido objeto. Ismael, como
el hijo de Abraham, sabe lo que significa vagar por el desierto, ser
expulsado, vivir sin derechos, por eso pensó que debía vencer el miedo
que paraliza (Juan Pablo II nos decía: No tengan miedo), y ese domingo
hacer por su patria lo que nunca había hecho y todos debíamos hacer.
Ismael pensó: Dios me escuchará.
En el preámbulo de la Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos
podemos leer: “Considerando esencial que los derechos humanos sean
protegidos por un régimen de Derecho, a fin de que el hombre no se vea
compelido al supremo recurso de la rebelión contra la tiranía y la
opresión;”. En Cuba tenemos un régimen que viola flagrante y cínicamente
derechos civiles y políticos, pero también derechos económicos,
sociales y culturales. Los abusos que el régimen castrista comete contra
el pueblo son más que suficientes para que los cubanos nos rebelemos
contra la injusticia. Los demócratas cubanos somos personas de paz
convencidos de que la violencia no es nunca la mejor solución, por eso
perseveramos en nuestra lucha pacífica en medio del odio y de brutal
represión.
Zaqueo, María e Ismael quisieron (y lo consiguieron y por eso todos
los cubanos estamos en deuda con ellos), llamar la atención sobre
nuestra difícil realidad. Compleja realidad que cuando no se busca sana
solución a tiempo, termina fatalmente produciendo situaciones extremas
como la que vemos hoy en Siria. Situaciones que con toda razón el Papa, y
toda persona de bien, condena. Zaqueo, María e Ismael dieron un grito
profético, alertaron a todos, nos dijeron con su acción: Está bien que
nos alegremos con el proceso de normalización de relaciones entre el
gobierno de EEUU y el régimen cubano, pero no se olviden de las víctimas
de las violaciones a los derechos humanos, ni se ilusionen con que solo
dicho proceso va a poner fin al sufrimiento de un pueblo oprimido.
Zaqueo, María e Ismael fueron detenidos delante del Papa Francisco y
ante varias cámaras de televisión. Las imágenes dieron la vuelta al
planeta. Hoy cumplen 11 días en huelga de hambre y 6 sin consumir agua.
Varias decenas de activistas pacíficos vienen resultando víctimas de
acciones represivas por reclamar su liberación. Tememos por sus vidas.
Por eso este SOS, dirigido a toda persona de bien.
Muchas Gracias.
José Daniel Ferrer García.
Coordinador General de la Unión Patriótica de Cuba. (UNPACU).
La Habana, 1 de octubre de 2015.
Last month during the Pope's visit to Cuba the Free Cuba Foundation announced a fast for freedom which included a call for participants to pray the Peace Prayer of St. Francis.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
This prayer was not written by St. Francis but is traced to the early 20th century and it does embody the life he lived. Cardinal Bergoglio is said to have chosen the name out of a deep concern for the poor but also nature and peace. Saint Francis at the height of the Fifth Crusade traveled to Damietta, Egypt, behind enemy lines, to meet with Sultan Malik al-Kamil and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. He also met with both parties in the conflict, the above mentioned Sultan and the Christian general Cardinal Pelagius preaching peace and an end to the killing. St. Francis was threatened with being branded a heretic by Church authorities for the encounter. The Catholic saint was characterized by his willingness to engage in open dialogue with all sorts.
We live in an age in which a constant stream of information bombards those trying to listen and understand the times, but the past offers knowledge that should also be heeded because it has endured the tests of time.
Miami's Archbishop Thomas Wenski and Dagoberto Valdés discuss the visit of Pope Francis to Cuba
Archbishop Thomas Wenski and Dagoberto Valdés
This morning had the pleasure to attend a gathering to discuss the recent visit of the Pontiff to Cuba at St. Thomas University. Unexpectedly the press was on hand and a reporter for El Nuevo Herald immediately asked me for a comment, even before the event had started. I explained that I had come to listen, but he insisted that I provide a comment on my opinion on the Pope's visit to Cuba and I expressed my disappointment in the silence surrounding the repression of dissidents during his visit, including of those invited to meet Pope Francis who were prevented from doing so twice by Cuban regime officials. According to a tally prepared by journalist Marc Masferrer, at least 238 Cuban dissidents were arrested during the Pope's visit to Cuba. Three Cuban dissidents who were able to to get within earshot of Pope Francis before being tackled by Cuban state security remain jailed and the Human Rights Foundation is calling for their release.
Taken from Dagoberto's power point presentation
Archbishop Wenski made some brief remarks on the visit and apologized for the hoarseness in his voice acquired with the heavy travel itinerary with Pope Francis first in Cuba and then later in the United States. Dagoberto Valdés Hernández, founder of Convivencia magazine and the Civic Education Center in Pinar del Rio gave a detailed analysis of what went on during the visit and the themes touched on by Pope Francis and the impact the visit was having in Cuba. Below are video excerpts from Dagoberto's presentation (In Spanish).
Message from Cuban dissidents on the island regarding Obama administration's Cuba policy
Letter from Cuban Pro-Democracy Activists
To the Congress of the United States
It is with profound concern that we implore the Congress of the United
States of America to read this letter directed against the strong
campaign being waged to unconditionally lift the economic sanctions that
weigh upon the Cuban dictatorship.
This campaign seeks to unconditionally lift sanctions with no
requirement or guarantee from the dictatorship that it first take a step
in the direction of respecting human rights and the promotion of
democracy.
We are aware that this campaign is also currently being conducted within
the Congress of the United States of America.
We consider it of vital importance that members of Congress know that
since last December the repression on our island has escalated. Since
the Summit of the Americas held in April, the regime has deployed a
renewed campaign of repression, marked by violence and brutality, with
the objective of suffocating the opposition movement. This violence has
been directed especially towards groups demanding the exercise of basic
human rights and that a general amnesty law be decreed that would serve
as the initial step toward a process of real changes., such has been the
case with the national coalition known as the Forum for Rights and
Freedoms, which carries out the #TodosMarchamos campaign for a General
Amnesty.
The regime fully opposes these demands, refusing to implement any policy
which would have a positive impact on the Cuban people, including
economic liberalization. State controls, excessive taxation, corruption,
political loyalty, are all factors that are expressly designed to
impede the development of micro-enterprises. In contrast, the military
elite control the most profitable businesses and establish mixed
enterprises with foreign companies. The sole logic of the Castro family
and their close allies is to maintain full control of Cuba.
Raul Castro has been emphatic in his speeches and actions: "We will not
cede even a millimeter." The Foreign Minister of the dictatorship
emphasized it clearly in Washington: "The changes already occurred in
1959."
The United States as a nation has declared time and again its total
commitment to the defense of democracy and fundamental liberties.
The
president affirms that his present policy is guided by the values of the
founding fathers and that reestablishing relations will help create a
greater responsibility for the regime in the topic of the respect for
human rights. However, the reality of the current situation contradicts
this idea and paints a completely different picture. This unconditional
rapprochement has only served to legitimize the longest lived and most
destructive dictatorship in the history of the hemisphere, and has
served to reinforce the violation of fundamental freedoms.
The lifting of the embargo, as proposed by the current administration,
will permit the old ruling elite to transfer their power to their
political heirs and families, giving little recourse to the Cuban people
in confronting this despotic power.
Totalitarian communism will mutate
into a totalitarian state adopting minimal market reforms that will
serve only to accentuate the existing social inequality in the midst of
an increasingly uncertain future.
Within the Cuban Catholic Church some representatives have played a
fundamental role in these political developments. Cardinal Jaime Ortega
has been a key actor, who regrettably, has on multiple occasions
denigrated the work of the democratic opposition and denied the
existence of political prisoners on the island.
Pope Francis has demonstrated that he is in favor of this policy and has
played a key role in this process. His recent visit has demonstrated
that the regime will continue oppressing and perpetrating violent abuses
with no respect for the dignity of human beings.
Silence before these
criminal acts is a detriment to the Cuban people. The dictatorship
continues gaining time and entitlements.
Accepting the primacy of this false pragmatism before a real commitment
with the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Cuban nation is a
troubling position.
We address ourselves with all due respect to the
Congress of the United States, and implore you to support the cause of
democracy in Cuba and not a mistaken policy that can cause a profound
harm to our nation. If a coherent policy does not exist toward the
regime, we Cubans will pay a greater price on our path toward the
democratization of our nation.
Movimiento Libertad Democrática por Cuba
Ángel Moya
Partido
Unidad Democrática Cristiana
Raúl Borges
Frente de Acción Cívica Orlando Zapata Tamayo
Hugo Damián Prieto
Frente Nacional de Resistencia Cívica Orlando Zapata Tamayo
Jorge Luis García Antúnez
Movimiento Opositor por una Nueva República- Movimiento Democracia
José Díaz Silva
Partido
Partido por la Democracia Pedro Luis Boitel
Félix Navarro
Movimiento Damas de Blanco Laura Pollan
Berta Soler
Estado de Sats
Antonio G. Rodiles
Asociación de Presos y Expresos Políticos en Cuba
Egberto Escobedo
Coalición Central Opositora
Damaris Moya
Frente Anti totalitario Unido
Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez
"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." - Martin Luther King Jr. The Trumpet of Conscience, Steeler Lecture (1967)
Time to meet torturers while staying silent about victims
Pope Francis left Cuba on September 22, 2015 three years and two months to the day since Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante were murdered by Cuban state security. Four months prior to his death Oswaldo Payá addressed what is now happening:
Our Movement denounces the regime's
attempt to impose a fraudulent change, i.e. change without rights and
the inclusion of many interests in this change that sidesteps democracy
and the sovereignty of the people of Cuba. The attempt to link the
Diaspora in this fraudulent change is to make victims participate in
their own oppression. The Diaspora does not have to "assume attitudes
and policies in entering the social activity of the island." The
Diaspora is a Diaspora because they are Cuban exiles to which the regime
denied rights as it denies them to all Cubans. It is not in that part
of oppression, without rights, and transparency that the Diaspora has to
be inserted, that would be part of fraudulent change. The
gradual approach makes sense only if there are transparent prospects of
freedom and rights.
On Monday, September 21, 2015 a reporter asked the Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, does the Pope know that more than 50 activists have been detained during these days to avoid them getting near him? According to the account in El País Lombardi visibly uncomfortable did not answer the question saying: "I have nothing more to say about this." Over the weekend reports emerged that the episcopal nuncio, Giorgio Lingua had invited some dissidents "to pass by" and say hello to Pope Francis, only to be detained by the political police before reaching their destination. The Vatican spokesperson had to recognize that although there had been no plan for a formal meeting with dissidents that there had been an invitation for some members of the opposition to pass by and say hello to Pope Francis, but he claimed that they had not shown up but could not confirm that it was because they were arrested. That same evening, members of the Christian Liberation Movement were harassed, detained and their homes placed under watch by state security agents to avoid them attending Mass the following day.
Pope Francis when he arrived in Cuba on Saturday, September 19 spoke at the Havana airport and made the following observation:
For some
months now, we have witnessed an event which fills us with hope: the
process of normalizing relations between two peoples following years of
estrangement. It is a sign of the victory of the culture of encounter
and dialogue, “the system of universal growth” over “the forever-dead
system of groups and dynasties” (José Martí, loc. cit.). I urge
political leaders to persevere on this path and to develop all its
potentialities as a proof of the high service which they are called to
carry out on behalf of the peace and well-being of their peoples, of all
America, and as an example of reconciliation for the entire world.
His Holiness in his public pronouncements is confusing the Castro dictatorship with the Cuban people. The Cuban people have been excluded from this process. This months long process is the normalization of relations between the people of the United States and the Cuban dictatorship that fears the Cuban people exercising their sovereignty. With all due respect what is taking place is not an example of reconciliation but degradation.
Reconciliation requires courage and truth telling that can be difficult when confronting the Castro regime in Cuba. When Dissidents called on Pope Francis, in the midst of the crackdown during his visit, to speak forcefully on human rights and freedom they were asking for a necessary step towards reconciliation. Meanwhile in Cuba and Miami human rights defenders fasted calling for the Pope to recognize that they too are part of Cuba and should have a voice in a dialogue. Pope Francis remained silent and regime spokesman Ricardo Alarcon argued that the Pope's decision not to meet with dissidents was that he was “so busy to waste his time with not important persons and not important issues.” The important issues he refers to are apparently human rights and freedom, scarcely mentioned in the Pope's homilies and speeches.
On September 21, 2015 the Christian Liberation Movement, an opposition movement of Catholic lay people founded in Havana on September 8, 1988 issued a communique that expressed what an authentic national reconciliation in Cuba is and what it is not:
There can be noreconciliation withoutrepentance, withoutconstraint, without justice, withoutliberation. That is notreconciliation, that is abjection. Reconciliation isour purpose anddesire. It isoursincere willingnessto dialogue with all, a dialoguewithand amongthe Cuban peoplefor citizens torescue theirpopular sovereigntyfreely expressedwith their vote. We are not willingto hand overto Caesar our conscience andour freedomas children of God, as the People ofGod and that was given tousby God.
Pope Francis officiates Mass in Havana, Cuba today
Tonight the Associated Press reported that the
Vatican spokesman confirmed that some dissidents were called and
invited to events where they would receive a greeting from Pope Francis. "Monsignor
Federico Lombardi says no formal meeting was planned. Lombardi says the
dissidents never showed up but he cannot confirm that it was because
they were arrested." Over twitter Marta Beatriz Roque and Miriam Leiva both informed through their respective accounts that they had been invited and the circumstances surrounding their arrests by Cuban state security. This is the second time that dissidents have been invited to an event to meet the Pope and been detained.
Meanwhile although His Holiness has not addressed the repression committed against dissidents on the island, Pope Francis has continued his pastoral mission. The excerpt of the Homily given by Pope Francis at the Holy Mass in Havana at the Plaza of the Revolution today, Sunday, September 20, 2015 focused on the nature of service and is a powerful reflection that merits being studied and prayed upon:
The
call to serve involves something special, to which we must be
attentive. Serving others chiefly means caring for their
vulnerability. Caring for the vulnerable of our families, our society,
our people. Theirs are the suffering, fragile and downcast faces which
Jesus tells us specifically to look at and which he asks us to love.
With a love which takes shape in our actions and decisions. With a love
which finds expression in whatever tasks we, as citizens, are called to
perform. People of flesh and blood, people with individual lives and
stories, and with all their frailty: these are those whom Jesus asks us
to protect, to care for, to serve. Being a Christian entails promoting
the dignity of our brothers and sisters, fighting for it, living for
it. That is why Christians are constantly called to set aside their own
wishes and desires, their pursuit of power, and to look instead to
those who are most vulnerable.
There is a kind of “service” which truly “serves”, yet we need to be
careful not to be tempted by another kind of service, a “service” which
is “self-serving”. There is a way to go about serving which is
interested in only helping “my people”, “our people”. This service
always leaves “your people” outside, and gives rise to a process of
exclusion.
All of us are called by virtue of our Christian vocation to that
service which truly serves, and to help one another not to be tempted by
a “service” which is really “self-serving”. All of us are asked,
indeed urged, by Jesus to care for one another out of love. Without
looking to one side or the other to see what our neighbor is doing or
not doing. Jesus tells us: Whoever would be first among you must be the
last, and the servant of all”. He does not say: if your neighbor wants
to be first, let him be the servant! We have to be careful to avoid
judgmental looks and renew our belief in the transforming look to which
Jesus invites us.
This caring for others out of love is not about being servile.
Rather, it means putting our brothers and sisters at the center.
Service always looks to their faces, touches their flesh, senses their
closeness and even, in some cases, “suffers” in trying to help. Service
is never ideological, for we do not serve ideas, we serve people.
Jonathan Watts, of The Guardian,
spoke with Angel Moya who described how at least 31 activists had been
detained from attending the Mass this morning, but that was not the
complete number and he was still obtaining further information. Here is
an excerpt of Mr. Watts's report:
I just spoke to Angel Moya, a prominent activist who said at least 31
people were detained this morning to prevent them from attending the
pope’s mass. “They are the ones we know of, but we are still counting,”
he said. Moya was among them. After being held in a police station from
5am to
11:30, he said he was picked up along with his wife, Berta Soler – the
leader of the Damas do Blanco (Ladies in White) group that campaigns for prisoner releases. With more than 20 other activists from the group who were gathered
ahead of their planned journey to Revolution Square, when the police
moved in with what he described as a “repressive, aggressive operation
that was specifically targeted to prevent us from attending the public
mass.”
Castro regime dialogues with the United States but rejects dialogue with dissidents
Pope Francis arrived in Havana, Cuba this afternoon and was received by Raul Castro in a military ceremony at the airport. The speech by His Holiness touched on a number of key elements from Cuban history while praising the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba:
For some months now, we have witnessed an event which fills us with
hope: the process of normalizing relations between two peoples following
years of estrangement. It is a sign of the victory of the culture of
encounter and dialogue, “the system of universal growth” over “the
forever-dead system of groups and dynasties” (José Martí, loc. cit.). I
urge political leaders to persevere on this path and to develop all its
potentialities as a proof of the high service which they are called to
carry out on behalf of the peace and well-being of their peoples, of all
America, and as an example of reconciliation for the entire world. I place these days under the protection of our Lady of Charity of El
Cobre, Blessed Olallo Valdés and Blessed José López Pieteira, and
Venerable Félix Varela, the great promoter of love between Cubans and
all peoples, so that our bonds of peace, solidarity and mutual respect
may ever increase.
During the day the news of mass arrests of democratic opposition activists begin to appear in the social media. Former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience Librado Linares was detained and handcuffed following a provocation by a National Revolutionary Police (PNR) official impeding his attendance at the Papal Mass in Havana. Cuban dissident, Antonio Rodiles, reported this morning that more than 20 Ladies in White had been arrested.
Meanwhile
Cubans in the island (Jorge Luis García Pérez "Antúnez") and in the diaspora (Ramon Saul Sanchez) continued to engage in a hunger
strike and a fast respectively to call for independent Cuban civil
society to be included in the new political context and the voice of the
Cuban people to be heard.
Later this evening over social media it was reported that various dissident leaders were invited to meet with Pope Francis in a low profile gathering at the Apostolic Nunciature but were arrested as they left their homes to meet with the Pontiff. Independent journalist Ivan Hernandez Carrillo reported that Angel Moya and Berta Soler, were invited by Apostolic Nuncio in Havana to meet the Pope, leaving home they were arrested. Marta Beatriz Roque was also detained and returned to her home to prevent her meeting with His Holiness.
Yenisleydis
Millo and her husband, activist Carlos Olivera, were arrested in Colón,
Matanzas at 11:09pm. At 12 minutes to midnight Berta Soler over twitter reported that
Rapid Response Brigades besieged the Ladies in White headquarters in
Lawton.
These actions by the Castro regime are a rejection"of the culture of
encounter and dialogue" praised by Pope Francis during his speech at the welcome ceremony organized by the dictatorship. The international community needs to keep a close eye on events
in Cuba that goes beyond the scripted performance of the Castro regime. People of faith need to keep Pope Francis and the people of Cuba in their prayers.
Cubans and people of good will inside and outside of Cuba arepraying for Pope Francis and for the long national nightmare that has gripped the island for 56 years to finally come to an end.
Cuban democrats are deeply concerned with the Pope's upcoming visit to Cuba where it is rumored that His Holiness will not have time to meet with them but will make time to meet with Fidel Castro.This has led to members of the Cuban resistance to initiate a hunger strike titled “Holy Father, “We too are Cuba” on September 16th when Jorge Luis Garcia Perez Antúnez announced it from Placetas:
"We human rights defenders, former political prisoners, in short opponents of the totalitarian dictatorship of the Castro brothers announce to the world that we are starting a hunger strike in order to draw attention to the recent escalation of arrests, harassment, bullying and persecution that the hordes of the Havana regime unleash against members of the internal resistance to avoid their involvement in the activities that will be officiated by the Holy Father Francis during his upcoming visit to Cuba."
“I will begin a fast of conscience without any food, just water, to appeal directly to the pope on two issues recognizing Cuba’s civil society and stopping human rights abuses against the Ladies in White, an opposition group on the island."
The Free Cuba Foundation (FCF), a student movement, in a blog entry that begins citing Psalm 146:3 "Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation." is calling on people of good will to engage in a fast for freedom during the Pope Francis's visit to Cuba:
The Free Cuba Foundation calling on people of good will to join us in fasting
and prayer during the visit of Pope Francis to Cuba beginning with his
arrival on September 19, 2015 at 4:00pm and ending on September 22, 2015
at 12:30pm.
FCF is calling on fasters to also engage in at least four prayers during the fast for freedom. The first is a prayer for fasting, the second is the prayer of St. Francis, the third is a prayer for prisoners of conscience, and the fourth a prayer for victims of violence. The student organization explained the reasoning behind this course of action:
This fast
is being done to pray for the nonviolent democratic resistance in Cuba,
that their demand for a general amnesty for all political prisoners be
granted, that the systematic violation of human rights be ended, that a
democratic transition and an authentic national reconciliation take place.
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Cuba has generated some controversies over the years and the Pope's visit may be another occasion in which lay people might be disappointed but this should not disillusion believers. It is important to remember the words of defender of the faith, Hilaire Belloc, who remarked to William Temple:
"The Catholic Church is an institution I am bound to hold divine -
but for unbelievers a proof of its divinity might be found in the fact
that no merely human institution conducted with such knavish imbecility
would have lasted a fortnight."
It is also important to recall that Pope Francis did meet with Cuban opposition leaders and activists in Rome. During Pope Francis's visit to Cuba I will join the fast for freedom and use the above hashtags.
"Lift up your
heart and do not succumb in the face of adversities, persevere in the
way of good; tirelessly helping those oppressed by sorrows and
afflictions: these are the important lessons taught to us by Our Lady of
Charity of El Cobre." - Pope Francis
Former prisoner of conscience and MCL member Jesús Mustafa
September 8, 2014 marked the feast day of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, Cuba's patron saint known affectionately as Cachita and the 26th anniversary of the founding of the Christian Liberation Movement. Today the Christian Liberation Movement released an important statement recalling their founding and principled nonviolent position stating:
We were bornthere in the parishof the Cerro,one of the manyneighborhoods ofHavana. The background:The Circle of the Cerro.Then somethingmoreformal,The Circle of Cuban ChristianThought.Thiswas banned anddissolvedwhen it launchedthe first freeCubanpublication,also prohibited, titled "People of God", proclaimingthe source of liberation: whenwe said, "We must obey God beforemen", "Renderto Caesarwhatis Caesar'sand to God whatis God's, "But if God givesyou Freedom, who is Cesartotake it away?"All men and women are my brothers and sisters.""We will not act violentlyorsubmitto violence,""You are mybrother, Ido not hate you, but I am not afraid of you."
Oswaldo Payá presenting the Varela Project before Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre (MCL)
Since 1961 in Miami the feast day is also celebrated on this day. Tonight at the University of Miami's Bank United Center, Archbishop Wenski presided over the Mass. However at the beginning of the Mass Father Rumin of Ermita de la Caridad (Chapel of Charity) said "Hear this: You can notbe a devoteeof the Virginof CharityCharitylivewithout," reported Rosa Maria Payá over twitter.
Celebrating the Feast Day of Our Lady of Charity in Miami
Over twitter Rosa Maria Payá observed: "the Church looks again at Cuba, Pope Francis sends letter to Cuba for Cobre Virgen of Charity celebration." In a second tweet she summarizes: "The Pope tells us we can not remain arms drooping bemoaning or passing the buck to others to do what is our own responsibility."
Pope Francis on Monday sent a letter to Archbishop Dionisio Garcia
Ibanez of Santiago, Cuba encouraging Cuban Catholics to
remain steadfast in their devotion to the Virgin Mary and highlighted three virtues: joy, service and perseverance.
It appears that what Pope Francis is calling for came into existence in a neighborhood of the Cerro 26 years ago and continues to steadfastly follow the way of love and nonviolence in confronting injustice.
Regis Iglesias, a former prisoner of conscience and movement spokesman, posted the above Christian Liberation Movement logo along with the following message: "HappyXXVIAnniversaryto all our brothers and sisters ofthe Christian Liberation Movement!!!We continue on with ourLoveofCubaand ourcommitment to ourMartyrs!!!" The full text of Pope Francis' letter is reproduced below.
His Excellency Dionisio Guillermo Garcia Ibanez
Metropolitan Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba
President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Cuba
Vatican, 8 September 2014
Dear Brother:
A few days ago, the venerated image of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre
was placed in the Vatican Gardens. Its presence constitutes a moving
reminder of the affection and vitality of the pilgrim Church of those
luminous lands of the Carribbean which, for mor than four centuries, has
addressed the Mother of God with that beautiful title. From the
mountains of El Cobre, and now from the See of Peter, that small and
blessed figure of Mary magnifies the souls of those who invoke her with
devotion, as She leads us to Jesus, her divine Son.
Today as we fervently celebrate the feast of Mary Most Holy, la Virgen Mambisa¸
I join all Cubans who set their eyes on her Immaculate Heart to pray
for favors, to commend to her their loved ones and to imitate her in her
humility and devotion to Christ, of whose disciples she was the first
and greatest.
Every time I read the Sacred Scriptures in the passages that speak of
Our Lady, three words stand out to me. I would like to focus on them in
order to invite the pastors and faithful of Cuba to put them into
practice.
The first is rejoice. It was the first word the Archangel
Gabriel addressed to the Virgin. “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is
with you” (Lk 1:28). The life of she who has discovered Jesus is filled
with such great interior joy that nothing or no one can take it from
her. Christ gives to his own the necessary strength to not be sad or
overwhelmed by thinking about the problems that cannot be solved.
Sustained by this truth, the Christian does not doubt that that which is
done with love engenders serene joy, the sister of that hope which
breaks the wall of fear and opens the doors to a future of promise. “I
am Our Lady of Charity,” was what the three Johns read on the tablet
that was floating in the Bay of Nipe. How beautiful it would be if all
Cubans, especially the young, could say the same: ‘I am a man or woman
of charity:” I live to truly love, and thus not be trapped in the toxic
spiral of eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. What joy is felt by one who
authentically loves, through daily acts, and who is not among those who
are full of empty words that are carried away by the wind.
The second word is arise. With Jesus in her womb, St. Luke says
Mary arose and went with haste to serve her cousin Elizabeth, who in
her old age was with child (cf. Lk 1:39-45). She fulfilled the will of
God placing herself at the disposition of whoever needed her. She did
not think of herself, she overcame all setbacks and gave of herself to
others. The victory is for those who arise again and again without being
discouraged. If we imitate Mary, we cannot just do nothing and merely
complain, or perhaps pass the buck on to others for something that is
our responsibility. Its not about doing great things but about doing
them with tenderness and mercy. Mary was always with her people looking
out for the little ones. She knew loneliness, poverty and exile, and she
learned to create fraternity and to make her home in whatever place
good would germinate. We implore her to make us poor in spirit, free of
all pride, and to grant us a pure heart that sees God in the faces of
the disadvantaged and patience that does not shrink from the
difficulties of life.
The third word is persevere. Mary, who had experienced God’s
goodness, proclaimed the great things He had done for her (cf Lk
1:46-55). She did not trust in her own strength, but in God, whose love
has no end. For this reason she remained with her Son, whom everyone had
abandoned; she prayed without failing together with the apostles and
the other disciples, lest they lose their soul (cf. Acts 1:14). We too
are called to persevere in the love of God and to persevere in loving
the others. In this world, in which eternal values are discarded and all
is mutable, in which triumphs are used and thrown away, in which people
seem to have a fear of lifelong commitments, the Virgin encourages us
to be men and women constant in good works, maintaining his words, which
are always faithful. And this is because we trust in God and we place
in Him the center of our live and of those whom we love.
We are to have joy, and share it with those around us. Lift up your
heart and do not succumb in the face of adversities, persevere in the
way of good; tirelessly helping those oppressed by sorrows and
afflictions: these are the important lessons taught to us by Our Lady of
Charity of El Cobre, useful both for today and for tomorrow. In her
maternal hands I place the pastors, religious communities, and faithful
of Cuba, so that She might encourage you in your evangelizing
commitments and in your will to make love the foundation of society.
Thus you will not be lacking in a joy for life, a soul for service, and
perseverance in good works.
To the children of the Church in Cuba I ask, please, pray for me, as I am in need of it.
May Jesus bless you, and the Blessed Virgin care for you forever.
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