"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)
Today marks one hundred days José Daniel Ferrer García, head of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU is the acronym in Spanish) has been locked away without due process since October 1, 2019 while the Castro regime engineered social media campaigns slander him. Jailed at the same time were Fernando González Vailant, José Pupo Chaveco and Roilán Zárraga Ferrer, also members of UNPACU. It is important to recall that both José Daniel Ferrer García and his brother Luis Enrique were jailed in March 2003 and sentenced
to 25 years and 28 years respectively in prison for their role in the
Varela Project, a citizen imitative to reform the Cuban system.
These
years in prison were traumatic. Not all who went in made it out alive.
Others left the prison inoculated with illnesses that would claim their lives prematurely. Next month on February 23, 2020 will mark 10 years since the day that
the world learned that Orlando Zapata Tamayo had died on hunger strike, after years of mistreatment, torture, and the periodic denial of water by prison authorities.
Prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo
Orlando's
death combined with the activism of the Ladies in White, the mothers,
daughters, sisters, and wives of the 75 Cubans arbitrarily detained and
condemned to long prison sentences spent years campaigning for their
freedom, created a critical mass that led to the release of all of them
by 2011.
Luis Enrique Ferrer García left prison and went into exile in November of 2010. Jose Daniel was finally released in 2011 and remained in Cuba.
Imprisoned during Cuba's Black Spring in 2003
On November 8, 2019 activists and human rights defenders gathered outside of the Cuban Embassy in Washington, DC and demanded freedom for José Daniel Ferrer García, Fernando González Vailant, José Pupo Chaveco, Roilán Zárraga Ferrer and the scores of other political prisoners. On November 13, 2019 the official Communist newspaper, Granma, published an article attacking the Cuban regime opponent, and slandering him with no right to reply.
On November 14, 2019 Amnesty International issued an “Urgent Action Update: Opposition leader at risk of torture” stating that “recent alarming reports suggest [ Jose Daniel Ferrer] may have been tortured or ill-treated while in detention. ...”
On November 22, 2019 Amnesty International formally requested access to Cuba to visit Jose Daniel Ferrer. To date, they have not been granted entry.
In December 2019, several U.S. Senators called for the release of Jose Daniel. Congressman Mario Diaz Balart introduced a resolution demanding the release of the UNPACU leader and all other political prisoners.
Today, the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, a coalition representing over 50 opposition organizations inside and outside of Cuba issued a statement denounced the 100 day kidnapping and torture of José Daniel Ferrer García, and the Assembly also highlighted the plight of Fernando González Vailant, José Pupo Chaveco y Roilán Zárraga Ferrer. All are being held in “Aguadores” prison in Santiago de Cuba.
CubaDecide launched an initiative "100 Voices around the world demand the immediate release of Jose Daniel Ferrer who is completing 100 days of unjust imprisonment in Cuba." They have called for a massive effort on social networks that today became a call to action for national parliaments of the world's democracies to demand that the Castro regime free José Daniel Ferrer.
The campaign over social media is using the hashtags #FreeFerrer, #JailedForWhat? and #PoliticalPrisoners and their Spanish translations.
Iran's Hezbollah outposts in Cuba and Venezuela have been working against U.S. interests for years.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani meets with General Raul Castro (2016)
The assassination by U.S. airstrike of Iran’s General Qasem Soleimani on January 3, 2020 and the warnings of reprisals by Iran and the concern that they may mobilize terrorist cells to attack Americans requires a reassessment of threats. It necessitates revisiting Iran's presence in the Western Hemisphere. It also requires identifying key long term allies of the Iranian regime.
Cuba and Iran have regime's with different ideological formations. Cuba has a communist dictatorship run by the Castros since 1959 and Iran has a Islamist regime run by the mullahs since 1979. However they have two things in common: a profound anti-Americanism that portrays the U.S. as the great Satan, and a fossilized revolutionary tradition that systematically denies human rights to their respective peoples. Robin Wright referred to them as "melancholy twins" in The New Yorker in 2015.
But beyond their similarities they also have a shared strategic outlook that is hostile to the United States.
The lateFidel Castro visited Iran on May 10, 2001, four months before the September 11, 2001 attacks, where he was quoted by the Agence France Presse at the University of Tehran stating that "Iran and Cuba, in cooperation with
each other, can bring America to its knees." ... "The U.S. regime is
very weak, and we are witnessing this weakness from close up."
Fidel Castro speaking at University of Tehran on May 10, 2001
Eleven years later on January 12, 2012 in Havana, Cuba the controversial president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, declared "Our
positions, versions, interpretations are alike, very close. We have
been good friends, we are and will be, and we will be together forever."
What has this meant in concrete terms for the United States?
Newsweek reported on December 18, 2017 that the
"Islamist militant group Hezbollah exploded into a major cocaine
trafficker for the United States over the past decade—and it happened
under President Barack Obama's watch to help score a nuclear deal
with Iran, a report revealed Monday."
There is a Cuban link that the Trump Administration should pay attention to. On February 13, 2016 Vice News reported that in 2011 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had been warned that the Lebanese Islamist militant group Hezbollah
was setting up an operational base in Cuba to carry out attacks in
Latin America that might also involve attacks on American diplomatic
posts or banks there. It was revealed in an e-mail from September 9, 2011 that stated the following:
The Hezbollah office in Cuba is being established under direct orders
from the current General Secretary Hasan Nasrallah, who replaced Musawi
in 1992. According to the information available to this source, in
preparation for establishment of the base, Nasrallah, working from
inside of Lebanon, carried out secret negotiations with representatives
of the Cuban Government, particularly the Cuban Intelligence Service
(General Intelligence Directorate — DGI), agreeing to, maintain a very
low profile inside of Cuba. Nasrallah also promised to take measures to
avoid any trail of evidence that could lead back to Cuba in the event
of a Hezbollah attack in Latin America.
Furthermore, the Castro regime also has a long history of involvement
in drug trafficking. There should be Congressional hearings exploring
the operational Hezbollah base in Cuba and its possible involvement in drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, and terrorism in the region.
"Project Cassandra, a campaign launched by the Drug Enforcement
Administration in 2008, found that the Iran-backed military and
political organization collected $1 billion a year from money
laundering, criminal activities, and drug and weapons trade, according
to Politico. Over the following eight years, the agency found that
Hezbollah was involved in cocaine shipments from Latin America to West
Africa, as well as through Venezuela and Mexico to the United States.
The Obama administration halted Project Cassandra as it was approaching
the upper echelons of Hezbollah’s conspiracy in order to seal a nuclear
deal with Iran, even though Hezbollah was still funneling cocaine into
America."
The U.S. Congress and the Pompeo State Department should investigate what is going on in Cuba and its links to Hezbollah and other bad actors. If the regime in Cuba is continuing its pattern of sponsoring terrorism and international criminal enterprises then it should be returned to the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Iran's Ahmadinejad with Communist Fidel Castro and Neo-Nazi David Duke
At a time when there is a fear of Iran seeking out asymmetric means to achieve maximum damage against United States interests, their decades long alliance with Cuba cannot and must not be ignored. Even closer to home, the relationship between the Iranian regime and white supremacists such as David Duke and anti-Semites such as Louis Farrakhan should also be closely examined.
"Article 13.(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country." - Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed by Cuba on December 10, 1948
Cuba, national home of all Cubans
Declaration of the Christian Liberation Movement.
Regis Iglesias Ramírez has been a spokesman for the Christian Liberation Movement for decades, a Cuban citizen by birth, he was unjustly condemned in the Spring of Cuba in 2003 and banished to Spain in August 2010.
In the early hours of January 1, Regis, in use of his right as a Cuban national carrying his valid passport and a ticket previously reserved in his name on American Airlines, appeared at the Miami International Airport to board a flight of said American airline bound for Havana.
When checking his documentation before the American Airlines officials, he was informed by them, that the Government of Cuba had notified the airline, that Regis Iglesias had a ban on entry to the island and therefore could not board his flight.
The Christian Liberation Movement
1-Strongly condemns the discriminatory practice of the island's regime against Cuban citizens, in frank violation of international law and in total disregard for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of which Cuba is a signatory.
2-We urge all democratic governments and institutions, to join this condemnation and demand the Cuban military economic junta, cease immediately this sustained practice of banishing Cubans, which demonstrates the exclusionary, segregationist and disrespectful character of the Cuban rulers to the most elementary legal norms.
3-We denounce before world public opinion and in particular before the authorities of the United States of America, the complicit practice of American Airlines as a direct executor of said violations of individual rights, by abiding by and enforcing the arbitrary, illegitimate and illegal abuses of a dictatorship against their nationals who only claim, in the exercise of their inalienable right, to return to the land that saw them born.
Cuba is the national home of all Cubans, without distinction, of any kind.
On behalf of the M.C.L Coordinating Council
Regis Iglesias,
José Miguel Martínez,
Jesús Mustafá,
Ernesto Martini,
Carlos Payá,
Tony Díaz.
Cuba, hogar nacional de todos los cubanos
Declaración del Movimiento Cristiano Liberación.
¨Cuba, hogar nacional de todos los cubanos¨
Regis Iglesias Ramírez es Portavoz del Movimiento Cristiano Liberación desde hace décadas, ciudadano cubano por nacimiento, fue condenado injustamente en la Primavera de Cuba del 2003 y desterrado a España en Agosto 2010.
En la madrugada de este 1 de enero, Regis, en uso de su derecho como nacional cubano portando su pasaporte vigente y un boleto previamente reservado a su nombre en American Airlines, se personó en el Aeropuerto Internacional de Miami para abordar un vuelo de dicha aerolínea norteamericana con destino a la Habana.
Al chequear su documentación ante los funcionarios de American Airlines, fue informado por los mismos, que el Gobierno de Cuba había notificado a la aerolínea, que Regis Iglesias tiene una prohibición de entrada a la isla y que por tanto, no podía abordar su vuelo.
El Movimiento Cristiano Liberación
1-Condena enérgicamente la práctica discriminatoria del régimen de la isla contra ciudadanos cubanos, en franca violación del derecho internacional y en total desprecio por la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos de la cual Cuba es signataria.
2-Instamos a todos los gobiernos democráticos e instituciones, a sumarse a esta condena y a exigir a la junta económico militar cubana, el cese inmediato de la práctica sostenida de destierro a cubanos, la cual demuestra el carácter excluyente, segregacionista y de irrespeto de los gobernantes cubanos a las más elementales normas del derecho.
3-Denunciamos ante la opinión pública mundial y en particular ante las autoridades de los Estados Unidos de América, la práctica cómplice de American Airlines como ejecutor directo de dichas violaciones al derecho individual, al acatar y hacer cumplir los arbitrarios, ilegítimos e ilegales abusos de una dictadura contra sus nacionales que únicamente pretenden, en el ejercicio de su derecho inalienable, regresar a la tierra que los vio nacer.
Cuba es hogar nacional de todos los cubanos, sin ninguna distinción, de ninguna índole.
A nombre del Consejo Coordinador del M.C.L
Regis Iglesias,
José Miguel Martínez,
Jesús Mustafá,
Ernesto Martini,
Carlos Payá,
Tony Díaz.
President Obama with Raul Castro and the moment that symbolized his visit to Cuba
The past decade in Cuba was a difficult one for human rights defenders and pro-democracy activists. Over eight years the Obama Administration attempted to normalize relations with the Castro regime. This was the third such attempt, and the results were similar to the prior two, but in some respects far worse, although predictable.
Under Carter, and Clinton attempts to normalize relations with the Castro regime led to a worsening human rights situation
in Cuba, the regime projecting itself more into hemispheric affairs,
undermining governments, and coinciding with the rise of other communist
regimes: Nicaragua in 1979, and Venezuela in 1999. Migration crises from Cuba that negatively impacted the United States also coincided with Carter, Clinton and Obama who pursued an engagement policy with the dictatorship in Cuba.
President Obama met with Hugo Chavez in 2009, with Maduro in the background
On April 17, 2009 President Barack Obama said
that his Administration sought "a new beginning with Cuba" and stated
further that he was “prepared to have my administration engage with the
Cuban government on a
wide range of issues — from human rights, free speech, and democratic
reform to drugs, migration, and economic issues.”
On May 28, 2009 the Cuban regime backed a Sri Lankan-proposed resolution
describing the conflict in Sri Lanka as a “domestic matter that doesn’t warrant
outside interference”. Castro's diplomats took the lead
in blocking efforts to address the wholesale slaughter then taking place in
Sri Lanka. The Foreign Policy Association reported that "Cuba succeeded in blocking
debate on abuses in Sri Lanka, which many countries have pushed for
after the extreme violence that rocked the country earlier this month." Amnesty International at the time said that “[t]he vote is extremely disappointing and is a low point for the Human Rights Council. It abandons hundreds of thousands of people in Sri Lanka to cynical political considerations.”
Alan Gross before and after his captivity in a Cuban prison (2009 - 2014)
Towards the end of 2009 the White House was tested when U.S. citizen Alan Gross was taken and held hostage by the Castro regime. U.S. diplomats did not see him until 25 days later. Furthermore, the policy of rapprochement and loosening of sanctions continued despite Gross's continued detention.
On February 23, 2010 Cuban prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo died after a prolonged hunger strike. He had been the victim of numerous beatings and ill treatment that rose to the level of torture over nearly seven years that drove him to go on a water only hunger strike. Prison guards periodically cut off his access to water, contributing to his death.
Other prisoners of conscience, such as Ariel Sigler Amaya, who survived the ordeal of Cuban prisons emerged emaciated and completely incapacitated from their captivity in the summer of 2010. The International Committee of the Red Cross had not been able to visit Cuban prisons since 1988-89. Prior to that there had not been a visit allowed since 1959, and no other visits permitted to the present date.
Ariel Sigler Amaya: Before and after his imprisonment in Cuba
Extrajudicial killings continued at a higher documented rate than in previous years.
Cuban human rights defender Juan Wilfredo Soto García died on May 8, 2011, three days after being beaten up by police officers in a public park in Santa Clara, Cuba. Amnesty International raised concerns on the circumstances surrounding his death. In the past Juan Wilfredo had been a political prisoner for 12 years.
On May 22, 2010 Norwegian mediareported that Cuban diplomat, Carmen Julia Guerra,
insulted, threatened, and bit a young Norwegian woman, Alexandra Joner
age 19, of Cuban descent on her mother's side while she was across the
street from the Cuban embassy in Oslo. She was filming a non-violent demonstration in solidarity with the Ladies in White and in remembrance of martyred Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo. The main national newspaper in Norway, Aftenposten, photographed the young girl with bite marks on her hand.
Human rights defender and opposition leader Laura Inés Pollán Toledo died on October 14, 2011 from heart failure at
the age of 63. One week after she had fallen suddenly ill from a
respiratory infection compounded with dengue fever and already existing
condition as a diabetic. A medical professional described her death as"painful, tragic and unnecessary."
Sample of documented extrajudicial killings in Cuba: 2010 - 2014
On the international seen the Castro regime allied with the worse regimes to undermine international human rights standards. On August 23, 2011 the Cuban government voted against investigating gross and systematic
human rights violations in Syria.
The Castro regime in January 2013 announced a "liberalization" in Cubans being able to travel out of the country, but with qualifiers that maintained the secret police's power to stop anyone from entering or exiting their own homeland.
The Obama White House and the Castro regime began having secret meetings in June 2013 in Canada. These meetings continued throughout 2013 and 2014. Reporting on these meetings do not mention any reaction to provocative actions by the Cuban dictatorship.
6. In addition, various parts for three SA-2 and six SA-3 missiles were
in the cargo, such as the nose cones housing proximity fuses,
auto-pilots and transponders, transmitter antennas and some actuators
(figure 4). 4 __________________ 4 The Panel notes that some of the
SA-2 and SA-3 parts could also meet the criteria defined in the list of
items, materials, equipment, goods and technology related to ballistic
missile programmes (S/2012/947), whose export and import by the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are prohibited. See in particular the Category II, Item 9 of S/2012/947 covering “instrumentation, navigation and direction finding”
There were no consequences for this action of the Castro regime that was also illegal under international law.
Despite the worsening situation the White House continued to push for unilateral concessions and the loosening of sanctions on the Castro regime, and pressed ahead with their secret negotiations.
The President and the dictator address their respective countries on 12/17/14
On December 17, 2014 both President Obama and Dictator Raul Castro announced that they intended to normalize relations. Alan Gross was finally
free after nearly five years in captivity, travel would be further liberalized and that some Cuban political prisoners were to be freed was news that would be received positively.
Nevertheless it was a sobering and worrisome exercise for a number of reasons. Three spies who had spied on military installations and congressmen on American soil, that had plotted terrorist acts in the United States, and were implicated in the February 24, 1996 murder of three American citizens and one American resident were freed in a swap to return to Cuba set a terrible precedent. Regime hardliners had won, thanks to the Obama Administration's actions. Kidnapping an American and holding him for ransom
for five years paid off. Moderate elements within the
dictatorship, seeking to transition Cuba into a responsible member of
the family of nations, would continue to remain silent.
Rosa María Payá testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
On February 3, 2015, Rosa María Payá, in testimony before a subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, indicted the indifference of the US government and the international community:"The Cuban
government wouldn’t have dared to carry out its death threats against my
father if the U.S. government and the democratic world had been showing
solidarity. If you turn your face, impunity rages. While you slept, the
regime was conceiving their cleansing of the pro-democracy leaders to
come."
Cuban diplomats assaulted nonviolent protesters in Panama
On April 8, 2015 Cuban diplomats streamed out of the the Cuban Embassy in Panama attackedcivil society representatives who were laying flowers at a bust of Jose Marti in a public park nearby. Several activists were injured and at least one required surgery. During the Summit of the Americas Cuban diplomats disrupted official meetings in order to block Cuban and Venezuelan dissidents from taking part, despite being officially accredited.
Cuban dissident Sirley Ávila León, age 56, was gravely wounded in a machete attack on May 24, 2015 by Osmany Carrión who had been "sent by state security thug s" and that she is sure that the aggression "was politically motivated."
The attack was severe enough that she suffered deep cuts to her neck and
knees, lost her left hand and nearly lost her right arm.
Sirley Avila Leon was the victim of regime engineered machete attack.
On Monday, July 20, 2015 at the State Department, Rosa Maria Payá Acevedo attended a press conference with Secretary of State John Kerry and Castro's foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez. Rosa Maria had proper accreditation as a member of the press. Rear Admiral John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, took Rosa Maria aside and warned her that she would be
physically removed if she asked any questions.
Three days before President Obama arrived in Cuba, Roberto Ampuero, a Chilean former
Minister of Culture and former Ambassador to Mexico tweeted in Spanish: "Paradox: After decades backing
Right wing dictatorships in Latin America, now the United States could
end up backing a Left wing dictatorship."
President Obama and Dictator Raul Castro do the wave at a baseball game in Cuba
President Barack Obama and his family visited Cuba on an official state visit on March 20, 2016 and left for Argentina on March 22nd. The image of President Obama photographedwith the Ministry of the Interior in the background with Che Guevaraprominently featured and used by Cuban official media as endorsement of the violent revolutionary martyr sent an unfortunate message. As did the photo of Raul Castro with President Obama doing the wave at a baseball game in Havana.
The picture at the top of the page with the limp handshake is symbolic of the efforts to engage with the Castro regime. President Obama tried to embrace Raul Castro, but the wily old dictator intercepted it, and tried to turn it into a revolutionary salute, and the US president went limp to avoid it. The loser in the exchange was the American President who came across looking weak. The short video above demonstrates the exchange.
Lady in White Xiomara de las Mercedes Cruz Miranda was arrested on April 16, 2016 for speaking out during a human rights demonstration in Havana's Central park.
Rosa
Escalona, member of “The Ladies in White”, a human rights group in
Cuba, along with her husband and three sons were subjected to a savage beating by Castro thugs. All four family members suffered great bodily
injury, with her husband Alberto Pedro Freire Leiva being the most
critically injured. This unprovoked attack took place May 8, 2016 in the city of Holguín, Cuba.
On September 23, 2016 Cuban state security agents raided Cubalex headquarters in Havana and confiscated their equipment and records. Members of the human rights group Cubalex, along with their family members, requested political asylum in the United States. The organization had formed in 2010 and provided legal representation in Cuba, and documented human rights violations inside the island. They are now all in exile due to the intensification of repression.
Fidel Castro died at age 90 on November 25, 2016 reported the Castro dictatorship. Cubans that gave a critical assessment of the dictator's legacy or refused to mourn his passing were beaten up, detained, and jailed.
U.S. diplomats began suffering brain injuries in Havana, Cuba in November 2016, and the Obama Administration did not raise this serious issue in the remaining months of their tenure, but continued with their unilateral concessions.
In the midst of the so-called Cuban thaw with the situation for Cubans growing increasingly dire, the international community following the White House's lead abandoned Cuban democrats.
On December 6, 2016 the European Council of the European Union abandoned Cuban democrats when it "repealed the EU 1996 Common Position on Cuba. The main objective of EU's
1996 common position on Cuba was to encourage transition to pluralist
democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well
as a sustainable recovery and improvement in the living standards of
the Cuban people." (This may have been pushed by the Obama Administration, in exchange for the release of Alan Gross.)
On January 2, 2017 Raúl
Castro presided over a military parade in Havana where marching troops
chanted about shooting the American President in the head:“Obama! Obama! with what fervor
we’d like to confront your clumsiness, to give you a cleansing with
rebels and mortar, and send you a hat of lead to the head.”
Cuban troops chant sending Obama "a hat of lead to the head" in January 2017
The Office of the Press Secretary at The White House on January 12, 2017 released a "Statement by the President on Cuban Immigration Policy"
that did two concrete things: further restrict the Cuban Adjustment
Act and end the Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program. This closed the door on Cuban refugees and victims of the Castro regime's human trafficking.
On January 18, 2017 President Obama commuted the prison sentence of Oscar López Rivera, a terrorist backed by the Castro regime. López Rivera, a founder of the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN). The FALN placed
more than 130 bombs in American cities — including one in New York City on
January 24, 1975. The explosive went off in busy Fraunces Tavern during
lunch hour. Four people died.The New York Daily News on January 16, 2017 described another bombing attack that claimed a young life, injured six and caused the evacuation of a 100,000 workers from Manhattan offices.When
López Rivera was arrested in 1981, the FBI found six pounds of dynamite
and four blasting caps in his Chicago apartment along with numerous fake
IDs.
Terrorist Oscar López Rivera freed by Obama in 2017
On February 3, 2017 White House spokesman Sean Spicer announced that the Trump Administration was in the midst "of a full review of all U.S. policies towards Cuba" and that human rights was a priority.
The Trump Administration on June 6, 2017 released the "National Security Presidential Memorandum on Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba" that begins by defining what will guide this new policy: "My Administration's policy will be guided by the national security and
foreign policy interests of the United States, as well as solidarity
with the Cuban people. I will seek to promote a stable, prosperous, and
free country for the Cuban people. To that end, we must channel funds
toward the Cuban people and away from a regime that has failed to meet
the most basic requirements of a free and just society."
President Trump addresses Cuba policy in Miami to the Cuban American community.
On September 19, 2017 President Trump addressed the United Nations and outlined Cuba's negative role in the international community and pledged to maintain sanctions: "That is why in the Western Hemisphere, the United States has stood
against the corrupt and destabilizing regime in Cuba and embraced the
enduring dream of the Cuban people to live in freedom. My
administration recently announced that we will not lift sanctions on the
Cuban government until it makes fundamental reforms."
Alejandro Pupo Echemendía died from police beating on August 9, 2018
Alejandro Pupo Echemendía, a 46 year old Cuban national was beaten to death by the Revolutionary National Police on August 9, 2018 while he was in their custody. Elizama Mujica Cabrera, the wife of the victim courageously denounced the extrajudicial killing despite threats against her and her family by the regime.
Cuban "diplomats" try to shout down side event on political prisoners
On October 16, 2018 Cuban diplomats led an "act of repudiation" at the United Nations to prevent a discussion on the plight of political prisoners in Cuba at a side event organized by the United States.
Police officers in Old Havana brutally beat Cuban citizen Iván Michel Ponce de León on April 19, 2019. Iván Michel died of his injuries eight days
later on April 27th. Spanish newspaper ABC covered the story on May 1, 2019.
Iván Michel
Ponce de León beaten up by police on April 19th and died of his injuries
On April 22, 2019 independent Cuban journalist Roberto de Jesús Quiñones was beaten up for covering the trial of a religious couple sentenced to prison for homeschooling their kids.
Roberto Quiñones was physically assaulted on April 22, 2019.
The Trump Administration on May 2, 2019 began to enforce Title III of the LIBERTAD Act, after prior U.S. Presidents beginning with Bill Clinton in 1996 had waived the measure. This has meant a
chance for justice in the courts for property owners who had everything
stolen from them by the Castro dictatorship.
On August 8, 2019 Xiomara de las Mercedes Cruz Miranda was transferred to intensive care. Cuban dissident Angel Juan Moya posted videos of interviews from August 6th and August 7th
with doctors at the hospital. Family members complained that they
are receiving differing diagnoses and her situation continues to worsen.
Xiomara was in intensive care and doctors were saying that it could be
lung cancer. A doctor refused to update the family saying: "that he did
not want to see those people."
Roberto de Jesús Quiñones Haces
On September 11, 2019 authorities arrested independent Cuban journalist
Mr Roberto de Jesús Quiñones Haces in Cuba, after he was convicted of
resistance and disobedience in August 2019. He is a prisoner of conscience and serving a one year prison sentence.
Cuban opposition activist José Daniel Ferrer García was detained on October 1, 2019, by Cuban authorities. He is the leader of the unofficial political opposition group “Patriotic Union of Cuba” (UNPACU) in Santiago de Cuba. He was taken along with three other UNPACU members.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) on December 23, 2019 reported that
Liusdan Martínez Lescaille, a twelve year-old Jewish boy has been
forbidden by Cuban educational authorities from entering his school
while wearing a yarmulke since December 11,
2019 with the result that he has been prevented from continuing his
education. His younger brother, Daniel Moises, has also been subjected
to the ban and government authorities threatened to open legal
proceedings against his parents, jailing them and taking their children
away.
According to the Ladies in White on December 26, 2019 over Twitter, the Lady in White
Xiomara Cruz lost consciousness early in the morning, is currently in
intensive care, and according to the Doctor who took her in, she should be receiving medication intravenously.
The past decade has demonstrated that the Castro regime has the will and ruthlessness to hang on to power and is willing to commit atrocities to do so. This has included the murder of opposition figures that could have managed a non-violent transition. Furthermore that engaging, legitimizing and subsidizing the regime leads the Castro dictatorship to expand its international projection with the objective of duplicating its revolutionary project in other countries.
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