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Rafael Ferro Salas, Grupo Decoro
PINAR DEL RIO, november (www.cubanet.org) - At the shout of the prison
guard, everyone exited. As they left their cells they formed up on one side of
the hallway. The same ritual is repeated each morning. The chief guard gives a
shout to get under way and the line of men begins to move.
They reach the courtyard where they are allowed to break ranks. Each one
goes to his usual place. It's time for the prisoners in the Pinar del Rio
provincial prison to get some sun.
At that hour the prisoners convicted of common crimes as well as the
political prisoners meet in the courtyard. The political prisoners who are not
on hunger strikes or on any kind of protest are granted this time outdoors.
Prisons in Cuba have very different regulations from those of other
countries. The harshness of these regulations comes down on the political
prisoners with greater force. The political prisoners are isolated in Cuba
prisons, they are the outcasts among the outcasts.
Same thing happens with the visiting days. If one of the political
prisoners protested the unfair treatment then his visiting rights are cancelled.
The most miserable days for a prisoner are those when he is not allowed a visit
from a loved one. It's like taking away the right to know what goes on in the
outside world he has no contact with. It's like suffering a double isolation.
The hard luck of the set rules is applied to political prisoners of both
sexes. The women from the Cuban opposition suffer these severities in prisons
and when they leave jail they carry indelible imprints on their faces, as if the
years had suddenly closed in on them.
After the short time for sun, the guard gives the order to fall in. The
inmates start moving away. Some take one last look at the daylightt remains. It
is a forced send-off, and therefore doubly sad. But the misery is even greater
for the punished political prisoner, for the outcast with no sun that day.
Versión
original en español
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