Cubans arrested to stop them gathering with sunflowers in parks across Cuba for human rights

Why we resist the regime in Cuba.

Santiago de #Cuba like #MartinLutherKing these courageous #Cubans have a dream: Freedom!@jdanielferrer @CarlosAmelOliva & a group of #UNPACU activists/@CUBADECIDE promoters arbitrarily arrested on their way to the March of the #Sunflowers 🌻 #8S #8SPaLaCalle #CBC #Canada #hrw pic.twitter.com/Bg4GXGkxKW

— Michael Lima Cuadra (@ngotranslations) September 8, 2019

Witnessing the events that unfolded today in Cuba brings to mind the words of George Orwell: "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever." This is what Castroism seeks to perpetuate in Cuba and has succeeded over six decades. Orwell's dystopian vision realized.

Photos of repression in Cuba from the 1980s, the 1990s, and the 2000s.

However, witnessing the resistance to Castroism, the words of Mohandas Gandhi come to mind: "When I despair, I remember that all thru history the way of truth & love have always won. There have been tyrants & murderers, & for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always."

Prisoner of conscience and MCL nat'l coordinator Eduardo Cardet meets with compatriots

We must never forget that Communism in Cuba wasn't accepted but imposed, first by the lie, then by firing squads, concentration camps, and political terror.  These are the tools that the Castro dictatorship's agents are still using today to hang on to power.

First the lie, then the firing squad, and political terror.

Think of it. They unleashed forces of repression to prevent Cuban citizens from peacefully gathering in parks across Cuba, with sunflowers, to show their solidarity with the Ladies in White, who Sunday after Sunday are mistreated for peacefully assembling to call an end to the laws that run afoul of international human rights standards.

Police investigating "suspects" discovered with sunflowers.

Dozens of activists and human rights defenders have been taken and are missing. The full tally is still not known. Rosa María Payá  reported over Twitter in Spanish below that the "detained and disappeared ascends to 72 in Cuba just hours before EU high representative Federica Mog 's arrival to meet with dictators in Havana."

Detenidos/Desaparecidos asciende a 72 en #Cuba a solo horas de que llegue @FedericaMog alta representante de la #EU á reunirse con los dictadores en #LaHabana@hermanntertsch @cayetanaAT @Telicka @ALDEParty @YouthEPP @TonoEPP @CNNEE @EditaHrdaEU @europapress @EFEnoticias @EPP https://t.co/KvNliVxQhr

— Rosa María Payá A. (@RosaMariaPaya) September 8, 2019

However there are some questions that must be asked as the EU's representative arrived in Havana to meet with the dictatorship and not the democrats. "What will Federica Mogherini do? Speak out for human rights? remain silent and complicit? or worse actively embrace the dictatorship again?"

.@FedericaMog History will record whether you seized this moment to speak out for Cuba’s brave opposition, the human rights activists who are beaten and brutally arrested, and the political prisoners, or not. https://t.co/ai1vgha0OA

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) September 8, 2019