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Freedom network gets into
Cuban Interest Section
Free Society Project, June
20, 2005.
Sunday, June 12, 2005. Saturday night Cuban
officials expelled a group of peaceful advocates
from a gala at the Cuban Interests Section
in Washington for distributing cards allusive
to repression in Cuba. Party organizers
had ignored numerous calls and e-mails objecting
to Cuba's totalitarian regime and asking
for the event to be cancelled or the venue
changed.
The black tie event at $89-99 per guest
was organized by Professionals in the City,
a social and networking organization. It
had been heavily promoted as an extremely
unique opportunity "to explore the
culture, cuisine, and music of Cuba, one
of the most fascinating and misunderstood
nations of our time." Partygoers were
promised "a true Havana evening,"
at the "gorgeous mansion with thick
red carpet and crystal chandeliers."
The house, built in 1917, was once the official
embassy of Cuba. A scrumptious buffet, flowing
alcohol, music, and dance followed salsa
lessons held two days before.
The human rights' advocates passed an inspection
at the door as Cuban agents carelessly checked
names of arriving guests against a long
list of alleged opponents to the Castro
regime. Once upstairs, the pretenders proceeded
to taste the food and drink and engage in
conversation with young professionals in
attendance. Shortly into the evening, the
small groups began handing out three different
versions of glossy 4x6 cards allusive to
oppression in Cuba, all with pictures and
messages on both sides. One cited a Human
Rights Watch report on the denial of basic
rights to Cubans. Another card showed a
lavish buffet at a tourist hotel on the
island, banned to Cubans, while Cubans live
under rationing on an average monthly wage
of US$10. The side of one card highlighted
Amnesty International prisoner of conscience
Dr. Oscar Biscet. One card was dedicated
to the thousands of victims of the Castro
regime and cited 78 minors documented as
executed and assassinated. Willing takers
were also given small stickers reading "We
support freedom in Cuba," which activists
had put on their clothing. The human rights
defenders were friendly to all partygoers
and suspected agents alike and mindful of
not interfering with their enjoyment.
Within a few minutes, the watching army
of security agents and collaborators encircled
the activists, mostly dispersed in small
groups, taking their cards and demanding
they leave. All left when approached without
resisting, quickly escorted by Cuban agents
to the front gate, where DC police were
stationed. They proceeded to join the street
protest on the other side of the street.
In one case, a woman that had been left
on her own was surrounded by several male
agents and angrily told she had to leave
as they grabbed her cards. When she refused
to hand over the cards, two agents squeezed
her strongly by both arms. As they pulled
her down the stairs, she began crying out
"Freedom for Cuba." On Sunday,
she proudly showed off her bruises as her
father's day gift to her dad, killed when
she was a toddler at the Bay of Pigs after
he had fought under Castro for democracy
in Cuba.
Upon entry to the party, organizers at
the door had directed guests cleared for
advance payment to proceed for screening
by Cuban Interest Section personnel against
a rejection list of political opponents.
Michael Karlan, who runs Professionals in
the City, told some of the advocates who
confronted him as they were escorted out
that they would have their tickets reimbursed.
The young professionals who hastily assembled
to make this gesture for human rights came
together to advance liberty for Cuba. Some
have been participants of organized human
rights groups or initiatives, all are U.S.
citizens, and several were not of Cuban
heritage. A D.C. lawyer with no family or
cultural links to Cuba showed strong leadership
in coordinating the effort. Because the
party was held on the eve of Fathers' Day,
another lawyer joined in to pay a tribute
to his father, who had fought in the Bay
of Pigs. One business entrepreneur's grandfather
had spent long years as a political prisoner.
All overcame the fear of physical harm or
reprisal to speak on behalf of the silenced
Cuban people, ruled by force and fear for
46 years by the Castro dictatorship.
Cuban diplomats and security agents have
a history of beating peaceful demonstrators
all over the world. In January 2004, Agence
France-Presse journalist Jorge Carlos Forbes
was attacked by Cuban security accompanying
Cuban diplomats at an art exhibition in
Paris. In April 2004, a Cuban official assaulted
the Executive Director of the Washington-based
Center for a Free Cuba inside a United Nations
building in Geneva as U.N. guards rushed
to protect him from other Cubans. In 2003,
Reporters Without Borders activists, including
its Secretary-General Robert Ménard,
were beaten by Cuban embassy staff in Paris.
In 2000, a group of men and women was attacked
by ten "diplomats" in front of
the Cuban Interests Section in Washington
in full view of U.S. Secret Service agents,
one who was injured in their defense.
The U.S. and Cuba broke diplomatic relations
in 1961 after the Castro government seized
U.S. properties of over $1.8 billion and
began subverting Latin American democracies.
In 1977, during the Carter Administration,
the United States and Cuba established Interests
Sections to carry out diplomatic and consular
activities. Both are respectively under
the protection of the Embassy of Switzerland.
A 2003 State Department report states that
the U.S. Interests Section in Cuba (USINT)
"operates in a hostile environment
manufactured by the Government of Cuba.
USINT personnel are treated to a steady
diet of officially-sanctioned provocations,
surveillance, recruitment attempts, and
harassment."
Contact: Maria Werlau
Free Society Project
Tel. 973.701-0520
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