Ivan Hernandez And Felix Navarro Prevented From Leaving Cuba “A Second Time”

Ivan Hernandez And Felix Navarro Prevented From Leaving Cuba "A Second
Time" / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 11 August 2016 – Cuba's immigration
authorities prevented activists Ivan Hernandez and Felix Navarro from
traveling outside Cuba this Thursday. The former prisoners of the 2003
Black Spring were invited to participate in the 2nd Cuban National
Conference that be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from 12 to 14 August,
but were unable to board their flight at Havana's José Martí
International Airport, where they ran into Reinaldo Escobar, 14ymedio's
editor

The answer that each of the dissidents received on presenting their
documents to the Immigration and Nationality official was: "You cannot
leave a second time."

Both Hernandez and Navarro had received, in March of this year, special
permission to go abroad "one-time" after being placed on parole, a
condition the authorities continue to maintain since release from prison
in 2011. All those released from the Black Spring "Group of 75" who
continue to reside in Cuba benefited from a similar authorization.

The opponent Librado Linares, also a former prisoner of the Black Spring
and general secretary of the Cuban Reflection Movement (MCR), did manage
to board his flight on Thursday to participate in the meeting of Puerto
Rico, since it was the first time he made use permit leave the Island.

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial
Organizations (AFL-CIO) recently sent a letter to Raul Castro expressing
"deep concern" about the "violent treatment" received by the trade
unionist Ivan Hernandez on his return to Cuba after his first trip
abroad. He traveled on the same flight as the opponent Vladimir Roca
and attorney Wilfredo Vallin, of the Law Association of Cuba.

Hernandez was arrested on July 31 and reported that he received a
"savage beating" when he refused to be subjected to a search at the time
of arrival. During his trip abroad he met with organizations and
activists from Europe and the United States.

Both Hernandez and Navarro cataloged the "injustices" and said they will
continue trying to assert their right to travel freely.

The Cuban National Conference is a continuation of one held last year,
which involved 23 organizations in Cuba and 32 from exile. It has been
convened by the Coordinating Liaison Committee composed of Ana
Carbonell, Rosa María Payá, Sylvia Iriondo, Guillermo Farinas, Juan
Carlos Gonzalez Leyva, Rene Gomez Manzano, Mario Félix Lleonart and

Saylí Navarro

Among the participants in the conference traveling from Cuba are also
Eliecer Avila, leader of Somos+ (We Are More) and Boris Gonzalez, a
member of the Democratic Action Roundtable (MUAD). The great absence the
meeting will be Guillermo Fariñas, who remains on hunger strike in Santa
Clara.

In the early hours of Thursday, Lady in White Leticia Ramos Herrería was
arrested while traveling from Matanzas to Havana to take the flight that
would also have taken her to the conference in Puerto Rico, according to
the leader of the Ladies in White movement, Berta Soler, speaking to
this newspaper. The activist was returned to her home where she is under
police surveillance.

Event organizers want to use this 2nd Conference to create a "structure
of unity of action in diversity," whose purpose is to "operate inside
and outside Cuba, coordinating the efforts of both shores." In addition,
they discussed "the general principles of the new Cuba" desired, an
issue that was left pending at the previous meeting.

Source: Ivan Hernandez And Felix Navarro Prevented From Leaving Cuba "A
Second Time" / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/ivan-hernandez-and-felix-navarro-prevented-from-leaving-cuba-a-second-time-14ymedio-reinaldo-escobar/