Tania Díaz Castro
HAVANA, June – The official Cuban press, in these days of Elián, daily shows us sundry acts of violence occurring in the United States, a country of 278 million people. All in an effort to demonstrate that it is a less than ideal place for Elián to grow up with his family.
That same press never carries news of a crime commited in Cuba, not even an act of violence, no matter how slight.
In November of 1988, the government sent me for a year to the women’s prison of "Manto Negro," in the province of Havana, for asking that Cuba hold a plebiscite on the current government.
In prison I saw the world that the Cuban press doesn’t show. I saw the perpetrators of unimaginable crimes. Those women were there because hundreds had been burnt, shot, knived, dismembered, poisoned and who knows what all.
I learned about dozens of suicide attempts by women who couldn’t stand their consciences after having killed their small children, their husbands or other relatives.
In Cuba there are 300 prisons. Within them are crowded killers, thieves, and people who have never commited an act of violence but who have demanded respect for human rights.
Versión original en español
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