|
Journalism a crime in Castro's
Cuba
The
Sedalia Democrat.
Missouri, December 14, 2004.
The long prison sentences meted out by
Castro's dictatorship last April to 28 independent
Cuban journalists are only the summary measures
of their current suffering.
For many of these brave dissidents, their
prison terms of up to 27 years are tantamount
to life sentences. Raul Rivero Castaneda,
the titular leader of Cuba's independent
journalists movement and the most prominent
of those now imprisoned, is 57 and beginning
a 20-year sentence. Carmelo Diaz Fernandez,
sentenced to 16 years in prison, is 66.
Edel Jose Garcia Diaz, 58, faces 15 years.
Oscar Espinosa Chepe, 62, founder of an
independent journalists cooperative, was
sentenced to 20 years.
Worse yet, many of the older Cuban journalists
suffer serious health problems.
Rivero suffers from hypertension, circulatory
and liver problems. The 66-year-old Carmelo
Diaz Fernandez has hypertension, a duodenal
ulcer and circulation deficiencies. Edel
Jose Garcia is blind in his left eye, suffers
the effects of hypertension in his right
eye, is weakened by a stomach ulcer and
hemorrhoids and reportedly is now plagued
by bouts of psychotic behavior. The most
serious health problems among the imprisoned
journalists afflict Oscar Espinosa Chepe.
He suffers from cirrhosis of the liver.
Only after strenuous protests from his family
and doctors citing his life-threatening
illnesses was he moved to a prison hospital.
To protest their punitive prison conditions,
several of the jailed Cuban journalists
have gone on protracted hunger strikes.
Without far better medical care than they
are currently receiving, some among the
imprisoned journalists are not likely to
survive their lengthy sentences.
Prison conditions for Cuba's jailed journalists
are compounded by what is obviously a deliberate
policy of added persecution and isolation.
Most of these manifestly nonviolent dissenters
are imprisoned in maximum-security institutions.
Their typical regimen includes confinement
in dirty, insect-infested cells, wretched
food, no running water, minimal outdoor
recreation, lengthy interrogations and political
indoctrination. Most are limited to one
phone call per week and one family visit
every three months. As added punishment
and hardship for their families, the majority
of imprisoned journalists were sent to prisons
far from their homes. Raul Rivero, a resident
of Havana, is being held at a penitentiary
nearly 300 miles from his home. Victor Rolando
Arroyo was assigned a prison 700 miles from
his home. Thus is the Castro regime's persecution
of Cuba's free press movement made crueler
still, as grim warning to others who would
inform and enlighten the 11 million people
of that island nation that is itself yet
imprisoned.
The San Diego Union-Tribune
Copyright
The Sedalia Democrat 2002
|
