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FROM
CUBA
Police
infiltrate young Cuban rock fans
HAVANA, August 21 (www.cubanet.org) - Ever since
the government initiated a broad campaign against
civil society in January under the pretext of
combatting drugs, the Ministry of the Interior
has fielded more than 200 undercover agents to
infiltrate groups of hippies of "freakies,"
as they are called in Havana.
Most of these agents, aged 20 to 25, are said
to have been recruited from the general population
serving their compulsory military service, by
enticements such as reduced service time and other
perks.
Their mission is to infiltrate groups of youths
who listen to rock music, in the belief that these
are the most assiduous users of illegal drugs.
The undercover agents identify users as well as
sellers, but little action has been taken up to
now.
Recently, though, some of the agents unexpectedly
dropped their mask.
Following a concert by the rock band Zeus July
19, most of the young people in attendance ambled
over to the nearby parks on G Street to talk and
while the night away. Much to their surprise,
some who they had thought of as their own identified
themselves as undercover agents and went around
asking people to show identification.
The agents wore the "freakies" uniform
of worn jeans, T-shirts from some U.S. rock band,
and shaved heads.
There were no arrests that night, but the youths
were admonished to stay away from drugs and from
those that sold them. They were also run off the
park.
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