1) Lorenzo del Toro Arrested in Pinar del Río / Cuba Press
2) Dissidents in Central Cuba Arrested or Confined to Their Homes / Cuba Press
3) Dissidents Arrested in San Juan y Martínez, Pinar del Río / Cuba Press
4) Martí Honored in Spite of Police Siege in Santiago de Cuba / Cuba Press
5) Teachers' Association's Roberto de Miranda Arrested / CPI
1) Lorenzo del Toro Arrested in Pinar del Río
PINAR DEL RIO, 28 de enero (Cruz Onofre Avila, Cuba Press) - Officers of the Deparment of State Security (DSE) arrested the delegate of the Pro-Human Rights Party of Cuba, Lorenzo del Toro this morning.
At the time of his arrest, the dissident leader was at the home of the PPDHC activist Raúl Arteaga Delgado, in the township of San Luis. The arrest is linked to the commemorative activities for the 147th anniversary of the birth of Cuban national hero José Martí planned
here.
Witnesses told Cuba Press that Lorenzo del Toro was taken to a DSE unit in San Luis. The arresting officers gave their names as Elizardo Álvarez and Liván Mena.
2) Dissidents in Central Cuba Arrested or Confined to Their Homes
SANTA CLARA, January 28 (Juan Carlos Recio, Cuba Press) - Several dissidents in Central Cuba were confined to their homes by the political police or taken into stations of the national police to prevent their participation in commemorative acts for the 147th anniversary of the birth of José
Martí.
Officers of the Department of State Security (DSE) warned Bertha Antúnez, president of the Presidio Político Pedro Luis Boitel, that she would be arrested immediately if she left her home. In like manner, Alejandro Fernández, a delegate in this province of the National
Council for Civil Rights, was threatened.
In nearby Caibarién, Antonio Ángel Martínez was placed under house arrest, Santiago Torres González was arrested in the early morning and Osvaldo Garciandía Palacios was severely threatened.
Opponents to the Fidel Castro regime in this province had planned several ceremonies to commemorate the birth of José Martí.
3) Dissidents Arrested in San Juan y Martínez, Pinar del Río
HAVANA, January 28 (Mery Miranda, Cuba Press) - Eight activists from the Pro Human Rights Movement Máximo Gómez Báez were arrested today in San Juan y Martínez, Pinar del Río province, as they attempted to lay a floral wreath before a monument to José
Martí.
The dissidents were arrested at the home of Tomás Felipe Arrestría, where they had been observing a fast before marching to lay the flowers. Among those arrested by State Security are Leonardo Rivera Sánchez, Conrado Rodríguez Suárez, Alberto Sánchez
Viamonte, Abel Serrat Marañón, Magdalena Pérez, Florentino Cuador Fernández and Ernesto La O Ramos.
The pacifist opponents to the Communist government were taken to the headquarters of the DSE in San Juan y Martínez. Four more members of the dissident organization, whose names were not confirmed, were confined to their homes by members of the police and the Rapid Response Brigades.
4) Martí Honored in Spite of Police Siege in Santiago de Cuba
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, January 28 (Marilyn La Hera, Cuba Press) - The Youth for Democracy Movement is celebrating a vigil on the ocassion of the 147th anniversary of the birth of José Martí in a private home, surrounded by political police and under strong threats.
The members of the youth group met at the home of Eddy Alfredo Mena González, the movement's coordinator, and to start the commemoration sang the national anthem, read from Martí's quotations and from the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The 25 dissidents at the Mena residence planned a march to a monument to José Martí to lay a floral offering, but the home was surrounded by police preventing them from leaving the premises. As of noon, there were no reports of arrests or beatings by the Rapid Response Brigades.
5) Teachers' Association's Roberto de Miranda Arrested
HAVANA, January 28 (Oswaldo de Céspedes, CPI) - State Security officers arrested Roberto de Miranda Hernández, the president of the Independent Teachers' Association of Cuba, early this morning, according to Nelson Aguiar Ramírez, president of the Partido Ortodoxo.
Aguiar said Miranda's arrest was linked to a celebration planned for this afternoon in commemoration of the 147th anniversary of the birth of José Martí. The plans called for a children's chorus to sing songs about the Cuban Apostle and for a debate on Martí's life and
works.
The President of the Teachers' Association was arrested at his home in Havana and as of noon his whereabouts were not known. |