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http://www.puenteinfocubamiami.org/cuba_latest.htm
Holguin, Cuba. June 25, 2002
To: The Churches in the entire World, Organizations of Human Rights,
National and International Public Opinion.
I am Juan Carlos González Leiva, a Cuban blind man confined in the
jails of the Cuban State Security since March 4th of this year.
Today at the visit, in front of the officials Urgelles, the officer in care
of my supervision, and Major Faguo, officer in charge of the custody unit, I
told to my relatives that "I knew I was not leaving this place alive, for I
feel that my physical integrity is in danger".
I requested medical assistance and even though different specialists have
come to see me none of them have performed any kind of tests to get to the root
of my illness. I am experiencing sharp chest pains as a result of a pill
prescribed by a MININT psychiatrist. I lost consciousness right after taking
this pill.
This burning pain, extremely sharp at times, is at the center of my chest,
and irradiates to both arms, cramping my hands. The doctor at the penal medical
facility, Dania Márques Cabrera, and the prison officials, tell me there
is nothing wrong with me.
This doctor told me the other day that I should not fear death so much
because we were all going to die, that if I die they would just bury me and end
of story. Then I asked her: Do you want to die? She replied: "No, but I
have a reason to live". Could she be thinking that defenders of human
rights don’t have a reason to live? Could it be that to her we are only
pests and not people full of sensibility, humanity and love.
I want to state clearly that I do not fear death, but I also love life. I
firmly believe they are trying to kill me slowly by destroying my nervous
system and my heart.
This doctor has not given me a clear diagnosis for my condition. Sometimes
she says I'm aflicted with osteo-condritis, an irritation of the end of the rib
which causes hest pains. Other times she declares it esofaguitis. And in this
manner she has mentioned many different things. My blood pressure has always
been 110 over 70. Last week, I had 160 over 100.
While discussing my health issues with the doctor, the prisoner with whom I
used to share a cell threatened me with a beating that afternoon. All this
happened as a result of my request for medical assistance.
Instead of giving me the assistance they locked me up all alone in a cell,
blind as I am, with no access to fresh air nor sun. As a result I have to take
medication for my nerves and for the claustrophobia I began to suffer in this
awful place.
The prisoner that threatened to kill me had been stealing my belongings, my
food and medications. I requested that this man be removed from my cell and now
I am completely isolated from the rest of the penal population, when I scream
for help nobody can hear me. They only come to my cell for the routine control
checkup.
I cannot eat, I am having digestive problems. The doctor accuses me of being
plantado". I explained to her that I lost my appetite and that I tolerate
only liquids. I feel so sick that I am sure that only God can open the doors of
this prison for me to survive. And I trust in Him.
I know they are trying to destroy me. But if I die, I will die happy
knowing that I died defending God’s Cause, defending the rights he gave
us and defending Our Father’s love and to our neighbor.
The other day the nurse called the doctor and she told him that I had a
heart attack. Why do they play with these things? The doctor also told me that
last week a common prisoner had stabbed to death a political prisoner at a jail
here in Holguin. What are they trying to gain by telling me this?
An official told me that when one wants to die, one will die, they are
implying that I am provoking my own death. Again I told him his statement is
not true. The pain that I have in my chest is real. In spite everything I
feel, I continue to trust in God and in Our Lord Jesus Christ. I will never
retract my principles.
I request the people that I send this letter to intercede on my behalf and
on behalf of my compatriots in the cause whom have been accussed of common
crimes, defenders of human rights to whom even a bond hearing has been denied.
With love, and trust in your help.
Juan Carlos González Leiva
NOTE: Of the eight detainees along with Juan Carlos, at
least three have expressed similar accusations: Delio Laureano Resquejo told a
friend in a letter that he would not leave the prison alive, he suffers from
high blood pressure. Lexter Tellez Castro overheard a guard telling another
prisoner to kill him. They put a violent prisoner in the cell with Carlos
Brizuela Yera to attack him.
Letter read by wife of Juan Carlos González Leiva via phone from
Cuba. Recorded and transcribed in USA by the Coalition of Cuban-American Women.
Translated to English in EE.UU. by The Information Bridge Cuba Miami. E-mail:
Joseito76@aol.com | 
