May 5, 1997

PRESS RELEASE
FROM CUBA:

UNEQUAL STRUGGLE .

The unequal struggle, which is being fought by the independent press in the island of Cuba against the governmental, repressive agencies, which give evidence to the regime's intolerance for democracy, has forced many of its members to take the path of forced exile, when faced with the imminence of a forceD prison, where the life of the inmate has no value whatsoever, and they can succumb, as has happened on previous ocassions, victims to a sudden illness.

Two well-known colleagues, Magaly Pino and Bernardo Fuentes Camblor, both from Patria Agency and the last one being the director of the same, given the difficult situations that they faced, of persecution and constant harassment in Camaguey province, decided to take to the sea and cross the perilous waters of the Florida Straits, to seek the solace of exile.

The most difficult situation is faced by Fuentes Camblor, who is at the American naval base of Guantanamo, and who could be extradited back to the mainland, something which will surely involve a backlash against him.

We hereby join our voices as defenders of freedom of expression, of justice and of democracy, so that international solidarity focuses on this issue, and for these colleagues of ours to be able to reach freedom in American territory.

Justice must be human and we send this plea out because totalitarianism doesn't shy away from crushing us. Those who have raised their brave voices face a certain sentence at the hands of the executioner.

We hope that humanity, those just men full of dignity, our brothers in the diaspora, won't abandon those who suffer today the consequences of the stubborness of an anacronistic system.

Independence Press Bureau in Cuba (BPIC)

April 30, 1997

Translated for CubaNet by Lourdes Arriete