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FROM
CUBA
Repression on the increase in Eastern Cuba
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, May 11 (Manuel Salinas
Espinosa, APLO / www.cubanet.org) - Repressive
activities by the government in the province
of Santiago de Cuba showed a marked increase
in April, according to reports by its most
frequent targets, dissidents and political
opponents.
In the city of Santiago de Cuba itself,
dissidents Juan Rodríguez, president
of the Brotherhood Republican Party, and
Mirtha Pérez, vice-president of the
Elena Mederos women's organization, say
they were arrested and reported numerous
others who were detained, searched and had
papers confiscated as they walked the streets.
In San Luis municipality, between the 13th
and 17th of April, 550 youths were taken
in and booked for showing "pre-delinquent
conditions," a peculiarity of the Cuban
legal system that means roughly a predisposition
to delinquency, at least in the eyes of
the authorities. At least two dissidents,
Henry Estiu and Guillermo Rivero, complained
of receiving beatings. Two others, Ramón
Roque and Roberto González, say they
were fined 300 and 330 pesos.
In nearby Palma Soriano, 40 youths were
taken in April 21 and issued "writs
of warning," a step that makes subsequent
arrests more likely. They reported they
were labeled "social trash" because
they are unemployed and because some of
them have previous records.
Dissidents in Palma Soriano also reported
an increase in the frequency of "repudiation
events" in which government-directed
mobs intimidate opponents by insults and
physical violence.
The events were directed by the area coordinator
for the Committees for the Defense of the
Revolution, Bárbaro Hernández,
who proclaimed that Committee members were
specifically authorized to beat up counter
revolutionaries and advocates of the Varela
project. Hernández issued his fatwa
during the same event in which a man who
has served two sentences in jail, one for
armed robbery and the other for growing
and possession of marihuana, was awarded
a public commendation for cooperating with
authorities.
Versión
original en español
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