Environmental Activist Detained And Interrogated In Najasa, Camagüey

Environmental Activist Detained And Interrogated In Najasa, Camagüey /
14ymedio

14ymedio, 5 June 2016 — Environmental activist Inalkis Rodriguez was
detained and interrogated on Friday after posting on her Facebook
account criticisms of the delay in the construction of a polyclinic in
Najasa, Camagüey. Rodriguez, a 14ymedio collaborator, reported that the
police erased all the photos from her digital camera and threatened her
to not to continue with her work.

Rodriguez posted on social networks a text accompanied by several
photographs in which she reported that after 15 years of beginning the
project, the local polyclinic still was not open and working. Following
the publication of her criticism, the president of the government in
Najasa, Kenia Marrero, said that the project would be inaugurated within
a short period of time, a promise that has not yet been fulfilled.

At the time of arrest, Rodriguez was taking new pictures on the
unfinished work and was intercepted by the official Miguel Fal, who took
her to the Najasa police station. Once she was detained, the officers
erased all the photos on her camera's memory.

Before releasing her, the police insisted that Rodriguez sign warning
notice that the activist refused to initial. They also questioned her
about doing the work of a journalist without having a degree in
journalism, an observation Rodriguez responded to by saying that her
profession was "veterinarian" but reaffirming her right to criticize
because she considers herself a "free" person.

Rodriguez has reported in recent years on the environmental damage
suffered in the Camagüey area, particularly deforestation in the Sierra
de Cubitas. Many of her texts, published on the Origins blog of this
newspaper, denounce the involvement of forest wardens and government
officials in the plunder of forest resources and wildlife in the region.

Source: Environmental Activist Detained And Interrogated In Najasa,
Camagüey / 14ymedio – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/environmental-activist-detained-and-interrogated-in-najasa-camaguey-14ymedio/