Cuban Police Arrest More Than 220 Dissidents, According To Activists

Cuban Police Arrest More Than 220 Dissidents, According To Activists /
Hablemos Press, Roberto de Jesús Guerra
Posted on June 29, 2015

The most arrests took place on Sunday in Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago
de Cuba

Hablemos Press, Roberto de Jesús Guerra Peréz, Havana, 29 June 2015 —
Offices of the National Police, the Department of State Security, and
other members of the Interior Ministry arrested at least 226 Cuban
activists and dissidents this past Sunday, 28 June, 2015.

Police operations were carried out in various provinces of the country
to keep activists and opposition members from attending Mass.

Among those arrested in Havana were Berta Soler, leader of the Ladies in
White Movement, Antonio G. Rodiles, director of Estado de SATS; José
Díaz, of Opponents for a New Republic Movement; photographer Claudio
Fuentes; and several of the former political prisoners who were released
in January 2015.

In Havana, the arrests of various members of the Ladies in White and
others of the opposition took place as these individuals were departing
their residences early in the morning, and they remained surrounded by
police officers throughout the day.

Besides Soler, Ladies in White executive committee members María
Cristina Labrada Barona and Lismeri Quintana Ávila were among these
detainees, along with eight other women.

Another 39 arrests of women activists took place in the area around
Santa Rita Church, after the women completed their customary march along
5th Avenue in the Miramar district of Playa municipality, and gathered
in Gandhi Park (adjacent to the church) to review the week's activities.
In addition, approximately another 41 activists and opponents–men who
accompany the Ladies on their march–were arrested in the capital.

Dozens of Interior Ministry agents blocked the streets around St. Rita
Church to arrest the Ladies and other dissidents, according to the
activists.

The Lady in White Aidé Gallardo Salazar was struck and dragged by female
officers. "They hit me on the head and face, and they tried to
asphyxiate me," Gallardo averred.

Other arrests of Ladies in White occurred in these provinces: Holguín
(4); Bayamo-Granma (2); and Aguada de Pasajero in Cienfuegos (9). In the
last province, additionally, "17 men who accompanied the Ladies were
arrested," according to activist and former political prisoner Iván
Hernández Carrillo.

The independent reporter Agustín López Canino also was arrested upon
exiting his home in the El Globo district, located on the outskirts of
Havana.

"I will continue going there to St. Rita for as long as they'll let me,"
said López Canino when interviewed. "What I do is take down the facts
and forward them to various media."

He adds that, "The repression against the opposition movement has
increased extraordinarily within the last six months and cannot be
allowed to go on without attention focused on it."

The former political prisoners Ramón Alejandro Muñoz, Eugenio Hernández
Hernández, Ángel Figueredo Castellón, Mario Alberto Hernández, and
Rolando Reyes Rabanal were also arrested in Havana.

The Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), headquartered in Santiago de Cuba,
reported the arrests of 103 of its members when they attempted to travel
to the village of El Cobre to attend Mass.
Ferrer: #Havana #Cuba: Mireya Ruiz Mesa, Carlos A. Calderín Roca, and
Eric Ramírez Alonso of #UNPACU@jdanielferrer are violently arrested.

The agents used violence to detain the opponents, who were transported
to police stations and military bases, according to activist sources.

Ladies in White affirm that, "The regime wants to destroy the
opposition, but we are prepared to give our lives for the freedom of the
political prisoners," stated Ibón Lemos y Mayelín Peña.

Soler attests that the repression increased 11 Sundays ago, ever since
the Ladies in White initiated a new campaign to demand the release of
political prisoners, among them: the writer Ángel Santiesteban Prats,
the artist Danilo Maldonado Machado ("El Sexto"); and the dissidents
Santiago Roberto Montes de Oca, René Rouco Machín, Osvaldo Rodríguez
Acosta, Yosvani Melchor Rodríguez, Rolando Joaquín Guerra Pérez, Eugenio
Ariel Arzuaga Peña, Yoelkis Rosabal–in total, more than 50 individuals.

The reports received at Hablemos Press included figures totaling 226
opponents arrested across the Island on Sunday, although the actual
number may be greater.

Translated By: Alicia Barraqué Ellison

Source: Cuban Police Arrest More Than 220 Dissidents, According To
Activists / Hablemos Press, Roberto de Jesús Guerra | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cuban-police-arrest-more-than-220-dissidents-according-to-activists-hablemos-press-roberto-de-jesus-guerra/