Cuban dissident arrested and then released

Cuban dissident arrested and then released

Belinda1 Belinda Salas Tapanes (left), president of the Cuban dissident
group Federation of Latin American Farm Women, was arrested and held for
about 24 hours in Cuba by political police agents last week, according
to Magdelivia Hidalgo, the group's Miami-based international representative.

Hidalgo, in a press statement issued late last week, said that Salas
Tapanes was detained Thursday at 11:30 a.m. in Palma Soriano in Santiago
de Cuba, in the eastern part of the island – and was released the next
morning. Hidalgo said the arrest occurred when Salas Tapanes was about
to begin gathering information about business outlets that refuse to
accept Cuban pesos, as part of the group's ongoing With One Currency
campaign.

The group, known for its Spanish-language acronym of FLAMUR
(Federacion Latinoamericana de Mujeres Rurales), has been spearheading a
campaign aimed at convincing Cuban authorities to let ordinary Cubans
buy goods with Cuban pesos in stores where only so-called convertible
pesos are accepted.

The convertible pesos, known as CUCs, now worth about 24 regular
pesos, were introduced in the 1990s and serve as an internal hard
currency accepted in the best stores mainly frequented by foreign visitors.

FLAMUR collected the signatures of more than 10,000 people and
delivered them to the Cuban national assembly recently demanding the
right to pay in all outlets with the currency Cubans "earn for their
work,'' Hidalgo told The Miami Herald.

After Raul Castro became president of the ruling council of state
last month, rumors swept the island that he would do away with the
despised dual currency system. It hasn't happened yet.

While arrests of Cuban dissidents are frequent, Hidalgo said the
officials who detained Salas Tapanes delivered an unusual message to her
while in detention.

"They asked that she be patient and to give Raul time to implement
changes,'' Hidalgo said.

-- Alfonso Chardy

Posted by Alfonso Chardy on March 23, 2008

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/human_rights/index.html