Inside Cuba

Cuban Nationals Segregated

by Pedro Castellanos Pérez

September 7, 2001

(Cienfuegos, Cuba) - Social clubs for the use of native "elite" presently do not exist. They were eliminated in 1959. But in 2001 these facilities of the past have been recreated, exclusively for the enjoyment of foreigners. It is truly a paradox, being that Cubans can not go into such clubs that were previously for everyone's enjoyment. Is that the discrimination that previously existed in Cuba? It is... the discrimination that exists today. If you are not a foreigner you cannot go to any club.

Bruzón Ávila is Detained

September 7, 2001

(La Habana, Cuba) - , Leonardo Miguel Bruzón Ávila, President of “Movimiento 24 de Febrero” and Director of the Independent Library “24 de Febrero”, located in La Habana, Cuba, was arrested after his participation in the activity know as "Libertad Sin Destierro" (Freedom but not in Exile), at the farm know as "Finca del Valle", this past Wednesday, September 6th, Leonardo Miguel Bruzón Ávila, President of “Movimiento 24 de Febrero” and Director of the Independent Library “24 de Febrero”, located in La Habana, Cuba.

After his detention he was driven to the Capri Unit, later to the prison Villa Marista and he is now at the Technical Investigations Department, more commonly known as "100 y Aldabó", in the municipality of Boyeros in the city of Habana.

From the Information Center for Democracy reported, Mercedes Constantín Figueroa, to the Information Bridge Cuba Miami, received by Pablo Rodriguez Carvajal this Thursday, September 6th, 2001 at 10:00pm.

Fined for being a "gusano"

By Pedro Castrellanos Pérez

September 3, 2001

(Cienfuegos, Cuba) - The state will not allow ex-political prisoner, Ronald Cabrera, to work selling home-made pasteles on the main highway #8, from Aguada to La Habana, this being the only income to sustain his family.

A few days ago he was fined 400 Cuban pesos by an official by the name of Sergio, whom stated that the fine was for being a "gusano" (literal translation is "worm" but it is a term used by Fidel Castro to refer to Cuban exiles) and for selling pasteles illegally.

This is another way of pressuring the oppositionists in the Province of Cienfuegos.

Reported to the Information Bridge Cuba-Miami, from Cienfuegos, Pedro Castellanos Pérez.

"Down with Fidel", the prisoners in "Combinado de Guantánamo" shouted

http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y01/sep01/07a4.htm

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, September 6 (Milagros Beatón, APLO / CubaNet) - The brutal and inhumane beating of political prisoner Jesús Catalá , at the hands of prison officials in "Combinado de Guantánamo" this past August 19th, massive protests almost culminated in a riot, as prisoners in Ward 4B witnessed in horror such criminal act. High ranking prison officials were called to the scene.

In a signed note which was smuggled out of the above mentioned prison, political prisoner Randy Cabrera Mayor further denounced that the prisoners of Ward 4B began shouting "Down with Fidel Castro" and vocalizing that they were tired of enduring abuses at the hands of the prison officials.

"The conflict erupted when prison officials conducted a search in the Cubicle 1 of Section 43 and then began brutally beating a prisoner named Jesús Catalá, the abuse was so horrendous that it almost caused a riot in this prison", said Cabrera Mayor in his note.

The situation escalated to the point that all of the high ranking officials of the provincial prison of Guantánamo, were forced to appear at Ward 4B to dissuade prisoners from their stance of civil disobedience.

Another prisoner by the name of Santiago Nápoles was also assaulted by prison guards before the prison's high ranking officials arrived at the site .

In accordance to the United Nations ( Organization in which Cuba is one of the Nations in Good Standing) Standard Code for the Treatment of Prisoners clearly states that, "physical abuses, corporal punishments, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners" are clearly prohibited as disciplinary measures.

Nevertheless, U.N. officials do not have access to the Cuban jails to prevent them from witnessing the inhumane manner in which the Cuban prisoner is forced to live.

This information was transmitted by telephone, being that the government of Cuba does not permit Cuban citizens private access to the Internet. CubaNet does not claim the exclusivity of its collaborators, and authorizes the reproduction of this material, as long as it is recognized as its source.

The brutal beatings continue in the provincial prison of Guantánamo

By Ferdinando Castro de Lardiller

September 3, 2001

(Guantánamo, Cuba) – Last Thursday, political prisoner, Randy Cabrera Mayor, was the victim of a beating at the hands of Lieutenant Céspedes, with most of his injuries to his mouth.

Randy and other political prisoners “plantados” (name given to political prisoners for their stance of non-conformity to prison authorities as an act of civil disobedience) had been on a hunger strike, in protest for the beating that the political prisoner Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina received, which was ordered by Captain Silvestre and with the knowledge of the prison’s warden Lieutenant Colonel Jorge Chediák Pérez. The aggressor was a common criminal with a 30-year sentence. The blows to Rodríguez Lobaina’s face were so severe that his jaw was fractured in two places.

Incidents like this happen very frequently but only against the political prisoners.

Ferdinando Castro de Lardiller, Delegate in Guantánamo of the PD-30-N “Frank Country. For the Information bridge Cuba-Miami. Given on September 1^st, 2001.

ARRESTED UPON LEAVING THE INTEREST SECTION

September 1^st, 2001

By Adolfo Fernández Saínz / Patria

Havana (NPC), September 1^st. – Juan Carlos González Leyva, Ricardo Cozano Alén, Carlos Brizuela, Lázaro Iglesias, and Jesús Joel Fernández, all oppositionists, had sustained a meeting at the U.S. Interest Section in this capital, upon leaving the building, an agent of the police intercepted them. He confiscated the two boxes of books and the four portable radios they were carrying. He then drove the oppositionists to the Police Station of L and Pier.

At 4 in the afternoon the men decided to demand their freedom, stating that they were human rights activists and had not committed any crime. They were surrounded by a score of policemen and were told that members of the “SE” (Spanish Acronym) for State Security, were on their way to interrogate them.

Officers Luis and Silvio, of the political police, told them they were accused of distributing books among the population. They were finally set free at 9 pm that night. . Among the confiscated books figured: dictionaries, historical biographies, and literature for children. Four of the arrested work with the independent press—Cosano, Leyva, Brizuela Yera and Jesus Joel—, while Lázaro Iglesias Estrada is the Director of the independent library in Florida, Camagüey.

New Cuban Press / Reported from Havana, Adolfo Fernández Saínz / Patria

Note:

Sources close to "El CEON"(Centro de Estudios para una opción Nacional) in Miami, Organization chosen to represent The Cuban Independent Library Project in the Exterior, confirmed that Juan Carlos González Leyva is also the Director of the Independent Library "Ignacion Agramonte" in Ciego de Avila, Cuba.