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A Cuban flag with messages handwritten in blood
A Cuban dissident, Santiago Valdeolla Pérez, used his own blood to write these messages while in prison. "The fatherland belongs to all of us" - "For Cuba it is time" - "Lets open the door" "Long live the APPSC (The Assembly to Promote a Civil Society in Cuba) - "Long live a free and democratic Cuba" The flag was sent to Marta Beatriz Roque, one of Cuba's best known dissident and a director of the APPSC. Santiago Valdeolla is a pacifist whose only crime is to ask for democratic changes in Cuba. He is 35 years old and is still in jail. In April of this year his mother, Gladys Perez, denounced that her son received a brutal beating while at the Taco Taco prison. In addition, the religious literature that he was keeping at his cell was removed; the food that his family had brought to him in the last visit was confiscated by the prison guards. A bucket that he had in his cell and that was used to carry water in order to bath, was also taken away by Castro's prison guards. Gladys Perez also has another son, Emilio Leyva, who is currently at the Kilo 5 1/2 prison in Pinar del Rio. Believe it or not, this is happening 90 miles from our shores and in the XXI Century! Click here to visit the official site of the Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba'
The Havana riots of 1994: How Castro used the fast response brigades to stop them At the end of 1993, there were several anti-Castro protests in Cuba, the most noticeable ones occurred in Regla and Cojímar, near Havana. Then, on August 5, 1994, several thousand Cubans staged a huge protest in Havana's Malecon, and for a few hours it seemed that the regime was in real danger. Many of those Cubans who took part in the protests said later that this was the first time that they had really felt free, since Castro came to power. The protests began in front of the Deauville Hotel, near the Malecon. The hotel was heavily damaged because it was a symbol of the tourism apartheid that Cubans have been suffering for many years. The protest extended to Parque Central and the Paseo del Prado (Prado Promenade.) Many storefronts were damaged by the protesters. The regime ordered the "fast response brigades," groups of thugs armed with chains and sticks to attack the unarmed protesters. These groups, known as the Blas Roca brigades, are members of Cuba's state security dressed in civilian clothes that are organized, controlled and mobilized by the Castro regime. This way, Castro can later say that it was "an spontaneous reaction by the people against a group of traitors who were working for the imperialists." A Cuban general, who was on duty and the time and later defected, was interview a few weeks ago and he said that the regime was ready to order soldiers into the streets if the brigades had not been able to stop the protests. In the following set of photos you can see part of what happened on that day.
Castro's thugs can run, but they can't hide Those criminals who are terrorizing peaceful dissidents in Cuba need to know that they will be identified and their names will be made public. And when Cuba is free, these thugs will have to respond for what they have done. According to the Castro regime, these thugs are regular people who do these acts on their own and have no connection to the Cuban government. But that is another lie, as can be seen here in this photo taken by international journalists during one of the 'actos de repudio' against Cuban dissident Vladimiro Roca. Two of those yelling insults in front of Mr. Roca' home are clearly identified:
Jesús Prieto Medina. Is a delegate to the so called 'Asamblea National del Poder Popular' (Cuba's National Assembly) whose president is Ricardo Alarcon. This fascist thug is supposed to represent Pinar Del Rio. He is also a member of other organizations that are part of Cuba's Communist Party.
This woman is Nidia Diana Martinez Pití. She is, believe it or not, director of the William Soler Pediatric Hospital! She is also a member of the Cuban Federation of Women and a delegate to the National Assembly. She was born in the city of Holguín.
Humberto Perugoria, a dissident who has been terrorized by these paid mobs has sent a list with the name and addresses of many of those who have participated in these brutal acts against him and his family. Click here to see the list
Read the letter from the young daughter of a political prisoner to dictator Castro
Sahilí Navarro Alvarez is the daughter of Felix Navarro Rodríguez, a Cuban dissident who is currently in one of Castro's jail after being sentenced to 25 years in prison. Click here to read the letter from this courageous young woman to the dictator that is keeping her father in jail. She quotes from Castro's letters when he was jailed during the Batista regime and the difference between the way Castro was treated after an armed attack against a government garrison and how he now treats those who peacefully oppose his regime.
Castro's deaths Watch this video with Maria C. Werlau, President of the Free Society Project, Inc. and Dr. Armando Lagos director of The Cuban Archives who have been working to document all the victims caused by the Castro regime. The video is in Spanish and is produced and directed by Eduardo A. Palmer. Click here to see it
Watch the video "The tortures of Castro" Directed by Luis Guardia, produced by Pedro Corzo and coordinated by Francisco Lorenzo. In Spanish with English subtitles. Listen to the testimonies of those who have suffered under this brutal regime. Courtesy of the Cuban American National Foundation Click here to see this video
During the Batista dictatorship, there were 11 prisons in Cuba. Now, as can be seen on the above map, there are over 300! The entire island is surrounded by prisons! The questions are: Why so many prisons in a country where everyone is supposed to be equal? Why so many prisons in a country where the people are in charge? Why so many prisons in a country that for 46 and a half years has been 'educating' the 'new man' that is supposed to be like Che? Why so many prisons in a country where 99.9999% of the people 'vote' in favor of the dictator for life?
"LA CABAÑA," THE MILITARY FORTRESS WHERE THE ARGENTINEAN MERCENARY CHE GUEVARA COMMITTED MOST OF HIS CRIMES
One of the cells known as 'gavetas' (drawers) where prisoners had to spend most of their time lying down because the roof was too low for them to standup
Another cell, this one in Manzanillo, that also had a very low ceiling and didn't allow\the prisoners to stand. Between 10 and 15 political prisoners were kept in cells like these for six or more months. The space between the small wall and the back of the cell was used by the prisoners to defecate and urinate since there were no toilet facilities in these cells.
Three members of Castro's police arresting a woman dissident WHO IS BLIND!
Three more dissidents being arrested by Castro's Gestapo
Pro-Castro mobs attacking peaceful protesters with sticks and iron bars. As it always happens in Cuba, the attackers have immunity and remain free while those who are attacked and injured are arrested.
Meet Juan Carlos Leiva, he is a Cuban dissident who is blind and that the Cuban regime put in jail for demonstrating in support of other political prisoners. Here is what Amnesty International had to say about his case: Amnesty International is reiterating its concern for the health of Juan Carlos Leiva, a blind 37-year old lawyer, held in Holguín prison in Holguín province, Cuba. Juan Carlos Leiva reportedly weighs approximately 45 kilos following a (partial) fast from 4 September until 25 December 2002. Amnesty International is also concerned that Juan Carlos Leiva could be maltreated. On one occasion he reportedly was left in the interrogation chamber and, despite being blind, had to find his own way back to his cell, bumping into obstacles. He has also reportedly been denied the use of a cane. Furthermore, he stated that food and water caused a burning sensation en route in his digestive system, which should be investigated. Juan Carlos Leiva’s his wife, Maritza Calderín, and his brother José have also said to have been harassed and threatened with
imprisonment. many free countries of the world! Shame on them!!
The infamous mud-wall cells (celdas tapiadas) at Combinado del Este Prison in East Havana, where hundreds of political prisoners are still being tortured and held in complete isolation.
Here is a report from Human Rights Watch about Castro's Gulag: "Like Cuba's general prison population, political prisoners frequently suffer dramatic weight loss due to meager food rations, serious and sometimes life-threatening health problems due to insufficient medical attention, and abuses at the hands of guards or other inmates. But political prisoners also encounter problems unique to their status as non-violent activists, for holding anti-government views or for criticizing human rights violations in the prisons. Every political prisoner we spoke to stressed that Cuba's confinement of non-violent prisoners with prisoners convicted for violent crimes, often in maximum-security facilities with Cuba's most hardened criminals, is degrading and dangerous. Prison authorities refuse to acknowledge political prisoners' distinct status and punish them for refusing to participate in political reeducation, not wearing prison uniforms, or denouncing human rights abuses in the prisons. Guards restrict political prisoners' visits with family members and subject relatives to harassment. Prisoners' relatives also face government intimidations outside the prison walls. Before trial, many Cuban political prisoners routinely spend several months to more than a year in pretrial detention, often in isolation cells. Following conviction, they face additional punitive periods in solitary confinement. The government also crushes free expression inside the prison walls with criminal charges and prosecutions of previously-convicted prisoners who speak out about inhumane prison conditions and treatment. Cuban police or prison guards often heighten the punitive nature of solitary confinement with additional sensory deprivation, such as completely blocking all light from entering a cell, blocking ventilation, removing beds or mattresses, seizing prisoners' clothes and belongings, forbidding prisoners from communicating with one another, or restricting food and water beyond the already meager prison rations. Prison and police officials also disorient prisoners by leaving lights on in cells for twenty-four hours a day, incorrectly setting the time on clocks, or incessantly playing loud music. Many prisoners said that their discomfort was aggravated by extreme heat and swarms of mosquitoes biting them in the tightly closed cells. Experts in treating torture survivors recognize these as methods of physical and psychological torture." Boniato Prison in Eastern Cuba is another prison where political prisoners are still being kept in the most inhuman conditions. Please help therealcuba.com reach more people worldwide to let them know what Castro has done to that once beautiful and happy island. Click here to see how you can help: Help us | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
