CUBA FACTS

Issue 50-March 2010

Cuba Facts is an ongoing series of succinct fact sheets on various topics, including, but not limited to, political structure, health, economy, education, nutrition, labor, business, foreign investment, and demographics, published and updated on a regular basis by the Cuba Transition Project staff.

POLITICAL PRISONERS IN CASTRO’S JAILS

Following is a list of some political prisoners in Castro’s jails. Their harsh sentences reflect the nature of the Cuban State in its desire to repress even minor actions against the government. What would be tolerated and accepted in most countries of the free world is harshly repressed in Cuba. Some of these are members of the Varela Project, a peaceful project collecting signatures and requesting elections in Cuba. The Cuban government is keeping in prison several hundred political prisoners, many of them jailed together with criminal prisoners, in deplorable conditions.

Name: Víctor Rolando Arroyo Carmona Age: 58 Sentence: 26 Years Accusation: Accused of "undermining national independence and territorial integrity" for contributing to the Cubanet website and Radio Martí. He was also convicted for running an independent library containing over 5,000 books.

Name: Regis Iglesias Ramírez Age: 40 Sentence: 18 Years Accusation: Activist supporter of the Varela Project. Charged with “acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the State.”

Name: Librado Linares García Age: 49 Sentence: 20 Years Accusation: Accused of organizing human rights activities such as meetings, lectures, and seminars.

Name: Dr. Marcelo Cano Rodríguez Age: 45 Sentence: 18 Years Accusation: Accused of maintaining ties with the international organization Doctors Without Borders. He was also accused of seeking support in the form of medicines, clothing, and books in order to “destabilize the Ministry of Public Health and to undermine the existing social system in Cuba.”

Name: Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet González Age: 48 Sentence: 25 Years Accusation: Accused of “serving as a mercenary to a foreign state” and displaying the Cuban flag upside down. Leader of the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights which seeks to establish in Cuba “a state based on the rule of law.”

Name: Jose Daniel Ferrer García Age: 39 Sentence: 28 Years Accusation: Supporter of the Varela Project and coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement; two organizations deemed counter-revolutionary by the Cuban government. Charged with "acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the State."

Name: Luis Enrique Ferrer García Age: 33 Sentence: 28 Years Accusation: Member of the Varela Project and coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement. Charged with "acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the State.”

Name: Iván Hernández Carrillo Age: 38 Sentence: 25 Years Accusation: Accused of possessing a computer from the United States, and of receiving a $30 contribution from a sponsor in Puerto Rico for his independent library in Matanzas, the "Juan Gualberto Gómez II Library."

Name: Dr. Luis Milán Fernández Age: 40 Sentence: 13 Years Accusation: Accused of "disrupting internal order, destabilizing the country and destroying the Socialist State and the independence of Cuba."

Name: Alexis Rodríguez Fernández Age: 40 Sentence: 15 Years Accusation: Member of the Varela Project. Charged with “acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the State.”

Name: Normando Hernández González Age: 40 Sentence: 25 Years Accusation: Charged with “endangering the state’s independence or territorial integrity,” for contributing to the Cubanet website and Radio Martí. Also accused of receiving nearly 20 money orders from the United States as payment for his contributions to Cubanet and Radio Martí.

Name: Arturo Pérez de Alejo Rodríguez Age: 57 Sentence: 25 Years Accusation: Activist supporter of the Varela Project. Charged with “acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the State.”

Name: Alfredo Felipe Fuentes Age: 60 Sentence: 26 Years Accusation: Charged with “acts against the independence or the territorial integrity of the State” for sending reports to Radio Martí that “supports the subversive campaign waged by the U.S. government against Cuba.”

Name: Horacio Julio Piña Borrego Age: 43 Sentence: 20 Years Accusation: Accused with aiding and receiving supplies from the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. Charged with breaking the “Law for the Protection of National Independence and the Cuban Economy.”

Name: Pablo Pacheco Avila Age: 39 Sentence: 20 Years Accusation: Accused of “disrupting internal order, destabilizing the country and destroying the Socialist State and the independence of Cuba.”

Name: Angel Moya Acosta Age: 45 Sentence: 20 Years Accusation: Accused of collaborating with and providing information to the United States government and of “serving as a mercenary to a foreign state.”

The CTP can be contacted at P.O. Box 248174, Coral Gables, Florida 33124-3010, Tel: 305-284-CUBA (2822), Fax: 305-284-4875, and by email at ctp.iccas@miami.edu. The CTP Website is accessible at http://ctp.iccas.miami.edu/.