June 28, 2004: Cuba launched a new campaign to characterize the country's dissidents as Washington's puppets at a time when the United States was preparing to increase financial support for the island's opposition. "All of these people are puppets manipulated by the State Department of the United States," parliament Deputy Lazaro Barredo told a news conference called by the Foreign Ministry's International Press Center. Cuban authorities showed clips from a secret government videotape taken five years ago of veteran rights activist Elizardo Sanchez telling state agents that several other opposition members "were manipulated." The news conference also seemed aimed at further discrediting Sanchez, who has grown more active recently. "This is more of the same," Sanchez said of the videotape. "They are trying to distract the public with a fake scandal." His Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation has long been an important source of information for international rights groups. (AP, 28/6/04)
June 27, 2004: Political prisoner Migdalia Hernandez Enamorado, 35, is requesting solidarity on behalf of her three daughters who desperately need both of her parents. Hernandez Enamorado and her husband Rafael Benitez Chui were arrested on March 19, 2003 soon after they arrived at a police Unit in Guantánamo to protest the arrest of two of their peers. Migdalia wants the entire world to know that every Sunday, since her arrest, her daughters Lissi, 12, and Migdalia, 10, go to El Combinado de Guantánamo and they stand in front of the prison until they are allowed to see their mother at a distance even though they are allowed to see her only for five minutes. (Puente Informativo, 27/6/04)
June 25, 2004: Cuban dissident Leonardo Bruzón Ávila denounced that he has been the victim of political harassment even after having been released from prison. Bruzón Avila told the independent press in Cuba that only three days after his release, a member of the Cuban State Security named Yan Santiago visited his house and told him not to keep talking about Cuban politics. The day after, Avila was taken to a “security house” where he was submitted to interrogation by this agent and another named Aramís. A third “interview” took place two weeks later. ( Cuba Verdad, 25/6/04)
June 25, 2004: Amnesty International (AI) welcomes the release of two further prisoners of conscience by the Cuban authorities, but calls for more to be released. AI has received numerous reports of illnesses among prisoners having been aggravated by prison conditions, insufficient access to appropriate medical care and, at times, hunger strikes. (AI Press Release, 25/6/04)
June 25, 2004: The Cuban government's decision to free six jailed dissidents in recent days is designed to avoid the embarrassment of having them die behind bars and is not an indication that it is loosening its grip on dissent, experts said. ''The common denominator here is that all are in poor health,'' said Elizardo Sánchez, head of the Havana-based Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation. "It's apparent that the government is trying to avoid a mishap. They don't want anyone to die in jail.'' ''The release of some and the imprisonment of others shows the power of the state to do whatever it wants whenever it wants to,'' said Damián Fernández, director of Florida International University's Cuban Research Institute. ''These latest releases give the appearance of a thaw, an opening that is more a mirage than a reality,'' Fernández added. Also of concern is the fact that the six dissidents freed were sent home under an ''extrapenal license,'' meaning their convictions remain in effect and that they could be returned to prison at any time. (The Miami Herald, 25/6/04)
June 24, 2004: After having been released, dissident writer Manuel Vazquez Portal traveled to Havana, where he spoke with reporters. "I'm stunned," said Vazquez Portal, adding that he was surprised some of the prisoners with more serious health problems weren't released before him. ''[Oscar] Espinosa Chepe should have been released before me, Vázquez Portal said. Vazquez Portal said he didn't know why he was set free, but his wife, Yolanda Huerga, said her husband evidently was released early because of his high blood pressure. He said authorities recommended he leave Cuba following his release, making clear they would not stop him if he wanted to go. Before been arrested, Vázquez Portal and his family had entry visas to the US and they wanted to leave. ''Now, this is something I need to discuss with my family, but unless I am forced to do it [by Cuban authorities] would like to stay. I don't know. It's a long-awaited moment, like the last act in an opera," he added. (El Nuevo Herald, The Miami Herald, 24/6/04)
June 23, 2004: A letter released in Havana, by Elsa Morejon Hernandez, wife of prisoner of conscience, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, denounced the critical situation this Cuban physician is facing at Prison Kilo 8, in the province of Pinar del Rio, 162 km. away from his home where he is serving a 25 year sentence after being sanctioned for committing crimes “against the sovereignty and the integrity of the Cuban territory.” (NetforCuba, 30/6/04)
June 23, 2004: Cuban dissident writer and poet, Manuel Vázquez Portal, who was condemned to 18 years in jail during March-April 2003, was released for health reasons. Vázquez Portal’s release brings to ten the number of dissidents freed from jail in the last weeks, and is the sixth of the group of 75 condemned to long term sentences during last year's crackdown on dissidents. (AFP, 6,04)
June 23, 2004: Cuban dissident Roberto de Miranda Hernandez, one of 75 mostly rights activists and independent journalists sentenced last year to lengthy jail terms on the island, was released for health reasons. De Miranda, a 59-year-old professor and head of an unofficial teachers' organization, told the press he was released due to a heart ailment, high blood pressure and cysts on a kidney. He said was deeply moved to be reunited his family and friends, adding that more than 50 people stopped by his home. De Miranda's release brings to nine the number of dissidents freed from jail so far this year. Five of them are from the so-called "Group of 75," who were convicted of subversion and sentenced to prison terms of up to 28 years in March and April of last year. (EFE, 23/6/04)
June 22, 2004: The wife of jailed Cuban dissident Oscar Espinosa said agents from State Security refused to give him a letter from Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Miriam Leiva told the press she planned to show Espinosa the letter during her visit on June 20 to the military hospital where her husband is being held when the agents took the letter from her. The Spanish premier responded to a letter Leiva sent him where she explained her husband's situation and commended the Socialist leader for his victory in Spain's March general elections, she explained. (EFE, 22/6/04)
June 20, 2004: Members of the Mothers' Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners delivered a letter to the pope's representative to Havana. "There are more than 200 political prisoners in Cuba, some imprisoned only because of the way they think, while others endure excessive sentences," said the letter delivered to papal nuncio Luigi Bonazzi, who gave mass at the Church of Jesus on the Mount in Havana. The group asked to meet with Bonazzi so they could talk about their jailed relatives. Nuris Duran, mother of Lazaro Duran and president of the committee, stood in line to greet Bonazzi and to hand him the letter. She was accompanied by a dozen women similarly dressed in black and white. (AFP, 20/6/04)
June 18, 2004: The International Labor Organization (ILO) criticized Cuba, Venezuela and Zimbabwe for violations of the right of citizens to associate freely. Regarding Cuba, the same report deplores the government refusal to have direct contact with an ILO mission, which was proposed in November 2003. It also complained that Havana had not sent information requested by the ILO in connection with the long jail sentences - in some cases more than 26 years - given to seven union leaders, whose immediate release is being requested. With respect to the monopoly of unions established by Cuban law, the ILO asked Havana to adopt regulations that recognize in practice the right of workers to organize independently based on the results of their own elections. (EFE, 18/6/04)
June 18, 2004: Cuban authorities freed two more imprisoned dissidents for health reasons, and both men called for the release of their fellow prisoners of conscience. Released from prison were Carmelo Diaz Fernandez and Orlando Fundora Alvarez. Both belonged to the "Group of 75" dissidents - independent journalists and human rights activists. Diaz has liver disease and high blood pressure and was admitted to the prison hospital at Combinado del Este four months ago. His friend Fundora, who underwent two operations in prison for intestinal problems, has a bleeding ulcer, angina pectoris and a replacement valve in his heart. He went on a hunger strike in April after being hospitalized in August 2003. The two releases raise the number of freed political prisoners to eight so far this year. (EFE, 18/6/04)
June 14, 2004: Cuban dissidents expressed satisfaction with the European Union decision to keep up diplomatic pressure on the Fidel Castro regime following renewed repression on the island. "The EU had to maintain its position not only because of the lack of a positive response from the Cuban government, but due to the visible evidence that the political, economic and human rights situations in our country continue to deteriorate," Elizardo Sanchez, leader of the outlawed Human Rights Commission, told the press. According to Sanchez, the EU "is distancing itself from the government of Cuba and aligning itself with the Cuban people." Vladimiro Roca, of the All United dissident organization, praised the 25-nation bloc's decision, noting that "they couldn't do anything else, because the Cuban government is still determined to remain isolated from the rest of the world." (EFE, 14/6/04)
June 14, 2004: Oswaldo Paya, one of Cuba's best-known government opponents, accused authorities of harassing activists involved in a new project aimed at sparking discussion about possible changes on the island. Paya, lead organizer of the Varela Project democracy drive, said in a statement to international news media that activists in the new National Dialogue project have been visited at their homes by state security agents trying to persuade them not to take part. In a written statement faxed to news organizations in Havana, Paya maintained the project was "persecuted because of the well-founded fear that the people will support it." (AP, 14/6/04)
June 14, 2004: Integrated by collaborators of the Alternative Press, residents in the island’s capital and the town of Colón, in Matanzas, constituted in Havana, the First Investigative Unit of the Independent Press. Facilitated and directed by correspondents of LUX- INFO-PRESS, the group is headed by the independent reporters Orlando Carlos García Pérez, Hector Alonso Santos, Mercedes Toledo Mesa, Ines Guerra Ochoa and Caridad Roudette, after concluding a course in investigative journalism at the facility of the Cuban Independent Teachers Union. (Puente Informativo, 14/6/04)
June 14, 2004: The European Union Ministers reiterated diplomatic sanctions against Fidel Castro's regime. The Group of the Twenty Five made an implicit acknowledgement to Cuban internal dissidents while renovating their invitations to their diplomatic events in Havana to the oppositionist organisations. In the document approved by consensus, the Group makes explicit their interest to renovate dialogue with Havana, and regrets Cuba's rejection to accept cooperation from the EU nations. (Europa Press, 14/6/04)
June 11, 2004: The French government hopes the recent release of five Cuban dissidents is a "prelude" to the liberation of "all political prisoners" on the island, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. " France rejoices at the release of Carlos Alberto Dominguez, Emilio Leyva, Lazaro Miguel Rodriguez, Leonardo Bruzon and Miguel Valdes Tamayo", official spokesman Herve Ladsous said. "In any case, let us recall that all the member nations of the European Union (EU) have repeatedly asked the Cuban government to release all current political prisoners," he observed. France "hopes this decision is a prelude (to that action)," he added. (EFE, 11/6/04)
June 9, 2004: The Cuban government released a fifth imprisoned dissident due to health reasons. Miguel Valdes Tamayo, the 47-year-old head of the outlawed Fraternal Brothers for Dignity dissident group, was sentenced to 15 years in prison last April along with 74 other dissidents and human rights activists. He told the press that he is suffering from hypertensive cardiomyopathy which, if it gets worse, might require him to get a heart transplant. Valdes Tamayo said that he had no plans to leave Cuba, but rather continue working in the human rights movement as much as his health would allow. He said he was not tortured in prison, but he was threatened with beatings and he was struck many times by the guards. (EFE, 9/6/04)
June 9, 2004: Four Cuban dissidents held in prison without trial for more than two years have been released. They include Leonardo Bruzon Avila, 49, a human rights group leader whose cause has been championed across the world. The other three men released were Carlos Alberto Dominguez, a journalist, and Emilio Leyva Perez and Lazaro Rodriguez Capote, members of the small Pro Human Rights Party. The four were among 88 dissidents in Cuba granted the status of "prisoners of conscience" by Amnesty International. They were arrested on 22 February 2002 for trying to organise memorial ceremonies for four Cuban exiles whose aircraft were shot down by the Cuban authorities near the island in 1996. (BBC, 10/6/04)
June 8, 2004: Leonardo Bruzon Avila, a Cuban dissident who spent 27 months in jail without trial, was freed and vowed to keep fighting human rights abuses under communist rule. "I want to continue fighting for the defense of human rights in Cuba," the 49-year-old former librarian told the press at his home in Havana. Bruzon was arrested on February 22, 2002 for inciting public disorder after trying to organize a memorial ceremony to honor four Cuban exile fliers killed when Cuban fighters shot down their two small planes flying near the island in 1996. Bruzon's health deteriorated in jail where he went on four hunger strikes to demand a trial. In April he was transferred to a hospital weighing 85 pounds (39 kilos), he said, adding that he was suffering from a bone disease. He walked with difficulty when he was released. (Reuters, 8/6/04)
June 7, 2004: Oswaldo Payá, general coordinator of the dissident organization Movimiento Cristiano Liberación, issued an official note denouncing the raids performed by Cuban State Security agents against four Varela Project activists. The houses of Luis Enrique Junquera, Yamil Sánchez, Juan Carlos Alpízar y Juan Luis Rodríguez were searched, documents related to the Varela Project confiscated, and the four activists arrested. Two of them were released and the other two have been held incommunicado. (NetforCuba, 10/6/04)
June 1, 2004: An urgent appeal was made by Alejandrina García on behalf of her husband, political prisoner Diosdado González, to the UN Convention Against Torture, and to the international public opinion. Alejandrina requests urgent assistance due to "inadequate treatment" received by her husband, a prisoner at Provincial Prison, Km 51/2, Pinar del Rio, where he is serving a 20 years sentence since March 2003 crackdown on dissidents. She points out in the appeal that the prison regulations do not classify prisoners and that her husband is "in danger of being placed alongside prisoners of different categories whom authorities do not care if they have had a criminal past or bad conduct." (NetforCuba, 1/6/04)
June 2, 2004: The wife of Cuban dissident Diosdado Gonzalez Marrero - sentenced to 20 years in prison after a summary trial last year during Havana's harshest opposition crackdown in years - said she fears for the life of her hunger-striking husband. Earlier in Miami, an exile group said that one of the 75 dissidents sentenced to long prison terms in Cuba last year has sewed his mouth shut to protest the conditions of his imprisonment. Alejandrina Garcia de la Riva, a resident of Matanzas province, said she spoke by phone with her husband, when he told her he was about to join the hunger strike initiated by fellow political prisoner Normando Hernandez. "He told me he was going to go on strike that very moment and that Leonel Grave de Peralta and Jose Daniel Ferrer were joining them," said Garcia. Gonzalez, 41, is being held at Kilo Cinco y Medio prison in the western province of Pinar del Rio, along with the three others on hunger strike, all among the 75 pro-democracy activists, independent journalists and human rights advocates sentenced in April 2003 to up to 28 years behind bars. (EFE, 2/6/04)
