For weeks now, the Cuban opposition has announced its intention to demonstrate on Monday, November 15 in Havana and in six provinces of the country, to demand the release of political prisoners. She had maintained, Thursday, her call to parade, despite the ban of the communist authorities who brandished the threat of criminal prosecution.
Faced with this insistence, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel raised his voice on Friday, November 12, during a televised address.
In front of “A strategy of the empire [les Etats-Unis] to try to destroy the revolution ”, “We are serene, sure of ourselves, but attentive and vigilant, and we are also ready to defend the revolution, to face any action of interference against our country”, said the president. “We are a revolution open to dialogue, to debate”, he added, “But we are a society closed to pressure, blackmail and foreign interference”.
“They even told me which prison they were going to take me to”
Thursday, Yunior Garcia, main organizer of the demonstration, announced his intention to march alone on Sunday on an avenue in Havana, instead of Monday as provided for the call to demonstrate, to avoid any violence. He then explained that he feared that the Communist government would mobilize the police on Monday to attack demonstrators or infiltrate parades to cause unrest.
But on Friday, he said he was threatened by the police with being arrested if he carries out this project.
“They told me that they were not going to let me demonstrate, they even told me which prison they were going to take me to”, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the 39-year-old playwright, who claims to have been questioned by a state security agent, accompanied by a psychologist. Corn “There is nothing that prevents me from demonstrating on Sunday, absolutely nothing, so I will not hide”, he added.
Arrest of Guillermo Fariñas
In addition, dissident Guillermo Fariñas was arrested on Friday in Santa Clara (center), his mother Alicia Hernandez told AFP. “An ambulance and two police patrols came and took him to Arnaldo Milian Castro hospital”, she added, adding that her son, aged 59, is currently being treated with antibiotics for a urinary tract infection. “They told me that tomorrow [samedi] a prosecutor is going to visit him to indict him, but we do not know for what “.
Guillermo Fariñas, 59, 2010 European Parliament Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, observed 23 hunger strikes during the 2000s to protest against the government, which significantly weakened his health, a source of concern for his loved ones. A psychologist by training, independent journalist and human rights activist, he joined the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), the most active opposition organization in Cuba, led by José Daniel Ferrer, currently in prison.
This standoff comes amid a deep economic crisis and four months after the historic July 11 protests that saw thousands of Cubans take to the streets screaming for ” Freedom “ Where ” We are hungry “. These rallies resulted in one death, dozens injured and the arrest of 1,175 people, 612 of whom are still in prison, according to the human rights NGO Cubalex.
The Cuban government, which denies the existence of political prisoners in Cuba, considers illegal the opposition, which it accuses of being funded by Washington to try to overthrow the regime.