Martha Beatriz Roque -“In Cuba there are political prisoners, but they don’t all appear on the lists”

Martha Beatriz Roque: "In Cuba there are political prisoners, but they
don't all appear on the lists" / 14ymedio
Posted on July 7, 2015

14ymedio, Havana, 6 June 2015 — The opposition leader Martha Beatriz
Roque witnessed the controversial incident that occurred last Thursday,
2 July, at the residence of the head of the United States Interests
Section in Havana, during the celebrations of that country's
Independence Day. A group of government opponents rebuked Cardinal Jaime
Ortega y Alamino for his statement that there are no political prisoners
in Cuba, which has been spread in spoken and filmed versions. Roque
talks about these events in an interview with 14ymedio.

14ymedio. The Archbishop of Havana has just denied one version in which
derogatory expressions about the independent press were attributed to
Cardinal Jaime Ortega. You were there, how do you feel about what happened?

Roque. I think that it wasn't the proper way to address a person who
occupies the position in the Church that Cardenal Jaime Ortega occupies,
nor was it the appropriate place to do it in the circumstances in which
the incident occurred. There have been references to some videos and
voice recordings, in one of which Jaime can be heard to say that the
opponents "are blowing the trumpets of Miami."

Although I was present at the home of the Chief if the Interests Section
for the celebration of the United States' independence day, I wasn't a
direct witness to the incident, but I talked with everyone moments
later. Things got rough as they were speaking, to the point that Father
Polcari had to intervene and ask them to keep their distance.

Those involved in the incident were Egberto Escobedo, who was the person
who spoke; Jose Diaz Silva; Maria Cristina Labrada Varona, who is the
wife of Escobedo; and the Lady in White from Matanzas, Leticia Herrería.
Everything happened in the middle of the patio of the chief of the
United States Interest Section's residence in the atmosphere of the 4th
of July celebration.

Escobedo told me personally that they had told the cardinal that the
people of Cuba didn't agree with him with regards to his behavior of
denying the existence of political prisoners. Which I see as part of
this injection of totalitarianism that the majority of us opponents
have, of speaking like the system itself which systematically speaks in
the name of the people, and there we go also speaking in the name of the
people.

14ymedio. The focus of the discussion is related to some statements by
Archbishop Jaime Ortega where he denies the existence of political
prisoners in Cuba. Do you share that opinion?

Roque. On two occasions the Cardinal has said that in Cuba there are no
political prisoners. On a third occasion he said that on the lists that
have been submitted to him there are no political prisoners. We did the
work of analyzing the different lists prepared and we prepared a
document with respect to that which will soon be published.

It does not seem necessary to specify the authors of such lists, because
I do not want anyone to feel attacked with this. The truth is that on
some of the lists there are a lot of people who are not only not
political prisoners, but in some cases are not even prisoners right now.

14ymedio. You mean those who have carried out violent acts?

Roque. Personally I do not agree that those who have come to Cuba to
perform violent acts, terrorist acts or murders, being considered
political prisoners. I think you have to have mercy on them, especially
those who are Catholics, because in many cases the regime has imposed
excessive penalties and this is not permissible from the human point of
view. I'm talking about those who have committed serious crimes, but not
enough to warrant the conviction of spending the rest of their lives in
prison.

We all know how Mr. Fidel Castro made decisions in this regard. We never
forget the execution of these three Cubans who stole the boat Baraguá to
leave Cuba in 2003. That was an atrocity, but no one who commits this
type of crime can be on a list of political prisoners, because they are not.

14ymedio. But do you agree with the cardinal that in Cuba there are no
political prisoners?

Roque. In Cuba there are political prisoners, but they do not all appear
on those lists. These lists need to be cleaned up. For that we should
talk with the heads of organizations and they can say who is who and if
they still detained or not, because it also happens that if they are not
updated, people are released from prison but remain on the lists. We
must agree on the lists and seek the advice of lawyers in the field to
explain some cases.

14ymedio. To which cases are you referring?

Roque. For example, it is common that in Cuba a person is beaten by
police and then charged with assault. I know a whole family where the
political police broke down the door of the house, beat them, and they
went to prison for up to nine years, serving time for the crime of
assault. I'm talking about Osvaldo Rodriguez Acosta and his son Osvaldo
Rodriguez Castillo, along with Juana Castillo, wife of Osvaldo, who was
sentenced to five years of "correctional deprivation without
internment." However, in one of the dictates it appears as "attempted
police murder" and to read that is very hard.

14ymedio. Someone who is limited to reading official documents in a case
like this, which you pose as an example, could say that these people are
not imprisoned for political reasons.

Roque. Exactly. It is saying what it is not and I think they are
political prisoners, as I think others who do appear on some lists are not.

14ymedio. So perhaps the Cardinal could have "fallen into the
temptation" of making a candid reading of official documents.

Roque. I do not know how he might have read it, but I maintain that it
was disrespectful to rebuke him and also a lack of courtesy to the
hosts. All I could do was to greet him and try to erase the impression,
which may have been that all of us opponents have similar behaviors.

Source: Martha Beatriz Roque: "In Cuba there are political prisoners,
but they don't all appear on the lists" / 14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/martha-beatriz-roque-in-cuba-there-are-political-prisoners-but-they-dont-all-appear-on-the-lists-14ymedio/