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YARA |
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Anonymous |
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Jun 5, 03 - 1:22 PM |
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YARA Volume X Issue II Thought, Action, News, Mission and Vision
Thought:
Freedom received through the efforts of others, however benevolent, cannot be retained when such effort is withdrawn. –Mahatma Gandhi
Actions:
Write a letter to the editor. Tell a Friend about the Free Cuba Foundation.
NEWS / Facts
1. European Union cuts back Cuba ties after executions, jailings
2. FROM CUBA: From my prison cell (English / Spanish)
by Manuel Vázquez Portal, sentenced to 18 years
3. List of recently sentenced Cuban prisoners of conscience
4. EU to Curb Cuba Ties, Attacks `Flagrant Violations' of Rights
5. Mission/Vision Statement
European Union cuts back Cuba ties after executions, jailings
Reuters
Posted June 5 2003, 2:07 PM EDT
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union said Thursday it would launch a range of diplomatic sanctions against Cuba after the communist-run island executed three hijackers and jailed 75 dissidents and independent journalists.
The limited measures by the EU, Cuba's largest trading partner and foreign investor, came after the European Commission froze Cuba's request to join the Cotonou Agreement aid accord.
Current EU president Greece said in a statement the 15-nation bloc decided unanimously to limit bilateral high-level government visits and to reduce the profile of member states' participation in cultural events.
It would also invite Cuban dissidents to celebrations of EU national days and review its relations with Cuba.
The EU said it expressed deep concern to Havana about the ``continuing flagrant violation of human rights'' and of fundamental freedoms of members of the Cuban opposition and of independent journalists.
It repeated its call to the Cuban authorities to release immediately all political prisoners. ``The EU, mindful of increasing reports about poor detention conditions of prisoners with serious health problems, appeals to the Cuban authorities that, in the meantime, the prisoners do not suffer unduly and are not exposed to inhumane treatment.''
Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/caribbean/dgl-65cubaeu,0,5345440.story?coll=sfla-news-caribbean
FROM CUBA
From my prison cell
Manuel Vázquez Portal, sentenced to 18 years
Boniato Prison, Santiago de Cuba, June (www.cubanet.org) - Cell No. 31 is approximately 5 feet wide by 10 feet long, with the bars on the door partially covered by a steel plate and a barred window facing east that lets in light, rain, and insects.
In it there's only a bunk, made of steel rebar, fiberboard and an old, dirty, hard stuffed mattress.
The toilet is basically a hole regurgitating its stench 24 hours a day. Above it, a faucet provides water for washing and drinking.
There is no table, or chair, or cabinet for personal objects. There are no sheets, no pillows, no mosquito netting, no blanket. There's no radio or TV, no newspaper or books.
There are no eating utensils, no cup. What there is, is plastic and brought in by relatives. There are no towels.
Our letters are routinely opened. The cell floods daily with effluent from the hallway. The pockmarked ceiling leaks freely when it rains.
The building is surrounded by a wall roughly 28 feet high. This part of the prison is called Boniatico (Little Boniato), the high security section. Here are the lifers and those on death row; although a few are here because they have Aids. The building is more than 60 years old and crawling with vermin; there are rats, cockroaches, scorpions, several species of ants, flies and mosquitoes.
We are taken out individually to the yard one hour a day. They take our handcuffs off once in the yard, and put them back on to return to the cell. They also handcuff us to go get medications. Saturdays and Sundays we get no yard time; we spend almost 60 hours without leaving the cells.
The food is hard to describe; it requires a concerted effort of investigation and imagination. For breakfast, bread (I have not been able to fathom how it's made) and chorote, a linguistic and culinary innovation: roasted cornmeal that's later cooked with plenty of water and sugar.
Lunch consists of soup (water, wheat flour and some unrecognizable herb), rice or cornmeal or macaroni, in any case without fat or any other additives. Every once in a while there may be soymeal, or even "cow's vagina" (the inmates use a cruder expression), a white paste made from wheat flour and other, unrecognizable substances. Once or twice a month, there's what is called a special meal: a small piece of chicken, rice, some vegetable, and swill they call coffee.
Dinner is the same, but in the afternoon.
Of the rest of the prison I have only been able to see the wire fences, the moats, and the guard houses, on the two occasions they have taken me to the hospital to take my blood pressure.
The guards treat us with respect, because we treat them the same way. Only Juan Carlos Herrera, from Guantánamo, was beaten badly around one eye. I saw him with a swollen face through the window that looks on the yard.
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Cuban poet and journalist Manuel Vázquez Portal was arrested during the March-April government crackdown on civil society initiatives. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison under Law 88, the "Gag" law.
Vázquez Portal joined the independent journalists' movement at the beginning and was the founder of the Decoro Press Agency, later known as the Decoro Work Group.
CubaNet started distributing his work at a time he was in jail, in 1995.
His novel, El Niño del Pífano, can be seen at El Niño del Pífano
CubaNet published his book of poems Celda Número Cero.
http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y03/jun03/05e5.htm
OLA REPRESIVA
Desde la cárcel: Breve descripción
Manuel Vázquez Portal, condenado a 18 años de prisión
CARCEL DE BONIATO, Santiago de Cuba, junio (www.cubanet.org) - La celda (No. 31) tiene un espacio de aproximadamente metro y medio de ancho por 3 metros de largo. Puerta de barrotes semitapiada con una plancha de acero. Una ventana de barrotes que mira a la parte Este del edificio. Entran por ella el sol, la lluvia y los insectos. Una litera fabricada con cabilla corrugada, un tablón de bagazo prensado y un colchón de guata dura, sucia y vieja. El retrete es una taza turca, sin sifa que regurgita la fetidez las 24 horas. Ahí mismo, en la parte superior, una llave de agua para lavarse y beber. No mesa, no silla, no estante para los objetos personales. No sábana, no almohada, no mosquitero, no frazada. No radio, no televisión, no prensa, no libros. No cubiertos, no vaso o jarro. Todo plástico y traído por los familiares. No toalla. Violan la privacidad de la correspondencia. La celda se inunda todos los días con las aguas residuales del pasillo. El techo desconchado tiene filtraciones y cuando llueve gotea abundantemente. El edificio está rodeado por un muro de entre 8 y 9 metros de altura. A esta parte del penal le llaman "Boniatico"; es la sección dedicada a mayor severidad. Aquí están los condenados a cadena perpetua y pena capital, hay también algunos "sidosos". Como el edificio tiene más de 60 años de construido abundan las alimañas, todo un zoológico: ratas, cucarachas, alacranes, hormigas de varios tipos, moscas, mosquitos.
Nos sacan separados al patio una hora al día. Nos quitan las esposas en el patio y nos las vuelven a poner para regresar a la celda. También para recibir los medicamentos nos llevan esposados. Los sábados y domingos no brindan patio. Pasamos casi 60 horas sin salir de las celdas.
Las comidas son cuasi indescriptibles. Un esfuerzo de la imaginación y la investigación: Desayuno: pan (no he podido adivinar con qué lo fabrican) y chorote, una aportación lingüística y culinaria. Esto es harina de maíz tostada y luego cocinada con abundante agua y azúcar. Ninguna de las dos cosas las como. Almuerzos: sopa (agua, harina de trigo y alguna hierba irreconocible). Arroz o harina de maíz o coditos, en cada caso sin grasa ni otros aditamentos. Estos se alternan los días de la semana alguna que otra vez con picadillo de soya raras veces -o "sexo de vaca" (los presos lo nombran más groseramente), que consiste en una pasta blanca -una especie de engrudo- hecha a partir de harina de trigo y sustancias irreconocibles. Una o dos veces al mes dan una llamada comida especial: un trocito de pollo, arroz, alguna vianda -plátano burro-, y zambumbia, aunque le llaman café. Las cenas: lo mismo pero en el horario de la tarde. Del resto del penal sólo he podido ver las alambradas, los fosos, las garitas de guardias cuando me han llevado al hospital para tomarme la presión arterial en dos ocasiones.
Los guardias nos tratan respetuosamente porque nosotros hacemos lo mismo con ellos. Sólo a Juan Carlos Herrera, el de Guantánamo, lo golpearon muy fuerte en un ojo y lo conocí a través de la ventana que da al patio -solarium- con la cara inflamada y amoratada.
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Manuel Vázquez Portal fue arrestado durante la reciente ola represiva desatada por el gobierno cubano contra la sociedad civil. Fue juzgado en juicio sumario y condenado, bajo la Ley 88 (Ley mordaza), a 18 años de prisión.
Fundador de la Agencia de Prensa Decoro, que luego se convertiría en Grupo de Trabajo Decoro en 1999, Vázquez Portal escribe como periodista independiente desde principios del movimiento. CubaNet comenzó a distribuir sus crónicas -bajo el seudónimo literario de Pablo Cedeño- en 1995, mientras se encontraba en prisión. Sus artículos -firmados por Pablo Cedeño y Manuel Vázquez Portal- se comenzaron a publicar en CubaNet en agosto de 1997, cuando salió en libertad.
Su novela El Niño del Pífano se puede leer en esta página electrónica. La Editorial CubaNet publicó su poemario Celda Número Cero.
Esta información ha sido transmitida por teléfono, ya que el gobierno de Cuba controla el acceso a Internet.
CubaNet no reclama exclusividad de sus colaboradores, y autoriza la reproducción de este material, siempre que se le reconozca como fuente.
http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y03/jun03/04a1.htm
Posted on Thu, Jun. 05, 2003
Lista de disidentes encarcelados en Cuba (lista parcial), divulgada por Amnistía Internacional
Prisión Guanajay (La Habana)
Marcelo López Bañobre, 15 años
Efrén Fernández Fernández, 12 años
Omar Pernet Hernández, 25 años
Margarito Broche Espinosa, 25 años
José Luis González Tanquero, 20 años
Fabio Prieto Llorente, 20 años
Carmelo Díaz Fernández, 16 años
Osvaldo Alfonso Valdés, 18 años
Prisión Combinado del Este (La Habana)
Miguel Mustafá Felipe, 25 años
Librado Linares, 20 años
Luis Enrique Ferrer García, 28 años
Alfredo Pulido, 14 años
Guido Sigler Amaya, 20 años
Orlando Fundora, 18 años
Prisión de Mujeres Manto Negro (La Habana)
Martha Beatriz Roque, 20 años
Prisión Kilo 8 (Pinar del Río)
Nelson Moliné Espino, 20 años
DSE Pinar del Río
Horacio Julio Piña Borrego, 20 años
Prisión Kilo 5-½ (Pinar del Río)
Oscar Biscet, 25 años
Héctor Palacios, 25 años
Arturo Pérez de Alejo, 20 años
José Ubaldo Izquierdo, 16 años
Leonel Grave de Peralta, 20 años
José Daniel Ferrer García, 25 años
Diosdado González Marrero, 20 años
Prisión Agüica (Matanzas)
Miguel Galbán, 26 años
Fidel Suárez Cruz, 20 años
Alexis Rodríguez Fernández, 15 años
Roberto de Miranda, 20 años
Pablo Pacheco Avila, 20 años
Manuel Ubals González, 20 años
Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez, 25 años
Prisión Santa Clara (Santa Clara)
Pedro Argüelles, 20 años
Mijail Barzaga, 15 años
José Gabriel Ramón Castillo, 20 años
Jorge Luis García Paneque, 24 años
Julio César Gálvez, 15 años
Prisión Manacas (Santa Clara)
Héctor Maceda, 20 años
Prisión Guamajal (Ciego de Avila)
Alfredo Felipe Fuentes, 26 años
Prisión Canaleta (Ciego de Avila)
Raúl Rivero, 20 años
Luis Milán Fernández, 13 años
Julio Valdés Guevara, 20 años
Alejandro González Raga, 14 años
Pedro Pablo Alvarez, 25 años
Marcelo Cano Rodríguez, 18 años
Ariel Sigler Amaya, 25 años
Prisión Kilo 8 (Camagüey)
Régis Iglesias, 18 años
Ricardo González, 20 años
Miguel Martínez Hernández, 13 años
Antonio Augusto Villarreal, 15 años
Claro Sánchez Altarriba, 15 años
Omar Rodríguez Saludes, 27 años
Eduardo Díaz Fleitas, 21 años
Léster González Pentón, 20 años
Miguel Valdés Tamayo, 15 años
Prisión Provincial Holguín
Antonio Díaz Sánchez, 20 años
Mario Enrique Mayo, 20 años
Arnaldo Ramos Lauzerique, 18 años
Angel Juan Moya Acosta, 20 años
Adolfo Fernández Saínz, 15 años
Iván Hernández Carrillo, 25 años
Alfredo Domínguez Batista, 14 años
Prisión Boniato (Santiago)
Edel José García Díaz, 15 años
Manuel Vázquez Portal, 18 años
Nelson Aguiar Ramírez, 13 años
Normando Hernández González, 25 años
Próspero Gaínza, 25 años
Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta, 20 años
Prisión Guantánamo
Oscar Espinosa Chepe, 20 años
Jorge Olivera, 18 años
Víctor Rolando Arroyo, 26 años
Héctor Valle Hernández, 12 años
Félix Navarro, 25 años
Reinaldo Labrada Peña, 6 años
Ricardo Silva Gual, 10 años
Omar Ruiz Hernández, 18 años
http://www.miami.com/mld/elnuevo/news/world/cuba/6014779.htm
EU to Curb Cuba Ties, Attacks `Flagrant Violations' of Rights
June 5 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union said it would alter its relationship with Cuba following ``continuing flagrant violations'' of human rights by Fidel Castro's government, and it called for the release of all political prisoners.
The EU said it would restrict high-level governmental visits, invite Cuban dissidents to national celebrations in Europe, reduce its participation in Cuban cultural events and ``proceed to the re- evaluation of the EU common position.''
The statement from Greece, which holds the rotating EU presidency, also condemned the execution of three men who attempted to hijack a ferry to the U.S. on April 2.
A change toward a more critical EU policy would bring the Brussels-based union closer in line with the U.S., which has sought to punish Cuba since a crackdown against dissidents. The U.S. sought to have Cuba condemned by the United Nations Human Rights Commission and wants the EU to cut trade benefits.
In March, Cuba began arresting opposition members and accused them of acting against the state and collaborating with a foreign power. The defendants, including prominent writers and economists, were given quick trials and sentenced to prison terms up to 25 years, the U.S. State Department said.
The arrests were denounced in recent weeks by the U.S. and European Union, as well as the Organization of American States. Secretary of State Colin Powell characterized the arrests as Cuba's ``most significant'' crackdown in decades. About 75 people were given prison terms.
Condemnation Rejected
The Geneva-based UN Human Rights Commission subsequently passed a resolution calling for Cuba to accept a visit from a representative of the UN high commissioner for human rights, repeating an earlier call. The panel rejected a U.S. motion to condemn Cuba. Mexico joined 30 nations, including Libya and Syria, in voting down the measure.
Last month, a Bush administration official told reporters the administration intends to announce a series of policy steps toward Cuba in the coming weeks. Refusing to be specific, the official said the changes would generally support the U.S. goal of speeding the transition to democracy in Cuba.
The U.S. may suspend a migration agreement, cutting off an estimated $1 billion a year Cuban-Americans send to family members on the island and banning direct flights there.
Also in May the U.S. ordered seven Cuban diplomats assigned to the United Nations and seven at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington to leave the country for what the State Department said were activities ``inconsistent with their work.''
Last Updated: June 5, 2003 13:40 EDT
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=aovF3HA5DbOM&refer=latin_america
Mission Statement
We, as members of the Free Cuba Foundation, will increase
awareness throughout the world on the struggle of the internal democratic opposition to restore democracy and the rule of law to Cuba and expose the past and ongoing crimes of the dictatorship.
Our mission is to:
- Compile and provide documentation of the crimes committed by the totalitarian regime in Cuba.
- Work to counter the network of regime supporters with accurate information on the true nature of totalitarianism.
- Educate new activists on human rights, strategic non-violence, communism, Cuban history, and political action.
- Support wherever possible elements of the internal democratic opposition and independent civil society.
As victims of totalitarianism, we share a bond with other captive peoples past and present who share our struggle for freedom. Collaborating with them in areas of common concern
is one of our priorities.
We seek to follow the path blazed by Cuba's internal democratic opposition in embracing the principle of strategic non-violence.
Vision Statement
The Free Cuba Foundation is an action oriented international youth movement a leader in its commitment to defend human rights, support the internal democratic opposition, and as an advocate for the principles of civil disobedience and strategic non-violence.
http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/
fcf@fiu.edu
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