Mario Barosso, Translator: Raul G.
The crime committed against Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia has taken an even
more treacherous turn as the assassin, upon trying to dust off another
death, has used methods so low like releasing a testimony from his
sister Rosa who has suffered from psychiatric disorders since her
adolescence. She (Rosa) is a person that is greatly susceptible to being
manipulated as has occurred in this burdensome case. Her scarce
faculties even prevented her from assisting her own brother's burial,
and she only visited the funeral for a few moments because of her severe
nervous imbalance. The government also exercised obvious pressures on
Madelin Soto, Juan Wilfredo's niece, and on her husband Yasmil, using
the fact that they economically depend on the State. Madelin is a civil
worker for FAR and her husband is a law student and both of these
positions are easy targets for pressures, which in this case were
successful. But in the case of these two, they did attend both the
funeral and the burial. They heard my clear words when I had the
opportunity to direct my speech to all those who were present as
minister for the service. I publicly stated my testimony about my last
interaction with Wilfredo when, after 11 am on Thursday May 5th he
informed me about the severe beating he had been subjected to on that
same morning. That moment became etched in history after I sent out a
Tweet narrating just how dismayed I felt.
To me, what proved his statements to me was his terrible death during
the morning hours of that Sunday. Although I spoke clearly at the
funeral, neither Madelin or Yasmil even tried to correct me on my
"errors". On the contrary, I greeted all the present relatives with the
utmost respect, and they all thanked me for the words, including
Madelin. These same relatives had even agreed on having Guillermo
Farinas speaking the final words at the cemetery. He also passionately
denounced the situation and no one argued against him, the same way that
no one forced us to leave the cemetery as they made Rosa say in regards
to Wilfredo's son. But what happened after to Madelin and Yasmil? I
can't assure it, but I strongly believe that we find ourselves before an
overly vile and quarrelsome government, and I can't blame the relatives,
although I am strongly disappointed by their highly contradictory behavior.
The cowardly pressures were not exerted only on Rosa, Madelin, and
Yasmil. They have certainly also tried to abuse the pain of his two
children and his mother. Precisely the day prior to publicizing their
macabre report, State Security called me pretending to be from a radio
station called Evangelical Radio from Madrid, under the direction of a
supposed Raul Gomez Echemendia. From the moment I answered I noticed the
fraud and took the opportunity to tell them everything I felt and I was
able to confirm their extreme worry and their greed towards the family,
as they attempted to deceit me to try and get me to help them with the
detestable report they were fabricating. Similarly, without any qualms
they also repeatedly visited Anisley Soto Soria, Wilfredo's daughter.
Various representatives of the Communist Party, who know her through her
work as a nurse, were visiting her numerous times since Wednesday the
11th in an attempt to pressure her to assist a certain event, which was
supposedly a tribute for National Nurse Day which was to take place on
Thursday the 12th. Of course, she did not attend. On top of ending the
life of her father, they wanted to pull out some words out of her or at
least get a video of her receiving some sort of diploma to try and show
her in harmony with the assassin seeing as that, like everything else in
Cuba, something like a simple tribute to nursing can be manipulated and
used as a display of "loyalty" towards the regime.
The rest of the testimonies shown on the report were the same ones as
always. People who are servile to the government and who lend themselves
to play the game of the dictatorship, acting as accomplices while hiding
deaths. Ex-officials from the MININT who are now retired and dedicate
themselves to sell flowers are in truth personnel of confidence (PC) for
the system which are placed in strategic points like Santa Clara's
Parque Vidal. Activities that are now legal, like the sale of flowers,
constitute a perfect facade which keeps watch over the plazas and
streets for those who think themselves owners.
But the defamatory Granma report released on Thursday the 12th further
commits an even more horrendous crime, as if this felony has no limits.
After citing the mentioned testimonies, they have the audacity to evoke
the "guarantees of the Revolution for more than 5 decades" as a source
of further proof. It would have been better for them to simply stick to
trying to justify the death of Juan Wilfredo Soto, even if no one
believed them, as opposed to opening that immense casserole which is
full of many other deaths.
Thinking about it off the top of my head, while still horrified about
the death of my friend THE STUDENT, I can quickly draw up some other
examples and not of names like the popularly known cases of Pedro Luis
Boitel or Orlando Zapata Tamayo, but instead some very local examples:
three deaths which still await a serious investigation which would point
out the true causes of those already mysterious deaths. If you don't
believe me, you can ask any Taguayabon native:
Ramon (Alo) Casas Carranza, assassinated by a bullet on December 1st
1962, although the case constituted CAUSE No. 12 of 1962 for HOMICIDE by
the then Judge of Placetas. Evidently, the real culprit, who took
advantage of the anarchic atmosphere, was covered up. At the time,
anyone could kill someone else if they were suspected of being
"counter-revolutionaries". According to rumors, it seems to have been a
passionate crime hidden behind the euphoria of the moment upon
"confusing" Alo with a bandit. If the suspicions of the communities'
memories are after all true, we will find ourselves before a case where
it is not only the regime which uses individuals to commit their crimes,
but our history is also full of individuals who hide behind the regime
to carry out their assassinations. "I'll cover you, you cover me. I'll
serve you, you serve me".
Marcos Pareja Gonzalez, a Jehovahs Witness imprisoned under the
religious persecution which was unleashed towards this group, was one of
the many who let himself die in prison from a disease, without the
adequate medical attention which without a doubt caused his death. His
was a name out of a multitude of many others that serve as proof of the
crimes committed against this religious group, and to this day they have
not returned them the list of Registrar Associations as the law states,
even when the Cuban state has changed their politics to something more
religiously tolerant and not because they are courteous but because they
are fully aware of the criminal practices unleashed towards this group,
and they know that one day this may reverse itself on them.
Jesus J. Marquez Lemes supposedly committed suicide on August 5th of
2006 while he was detained after trying to unsuccessfully (and
illegally) leaving the country after various prior attempts. However,
his death was never too clear. There are also some versions which say
that he died as consequence of a severe beating which the penitentiary
authorities quickly tried to erase. All of us who knew Jesuito know that
he never let his will bend and he also did not have suicidal tendencies,
and what he really wanted was to live. No one in Taguayabon believed
that he died of suicide, and apparently there were also pressures
exerted on the family so that they cease any further investigations.
But perhaps the death of Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia will not only serve
to unmask his individual decease, but it will also continue the
persecution process of a regime that has eliminated thousands. The
difference resides that in this case God allowed me to cross paths with
the beaten Juan Wilfredo, thus moving me to the point where I sent out
the Tweet. And the fact is that God despises lies, including the ones
used by those who auto-dominate Cuba but ignore the fact that besides my
being a Christian, the nearly 30 other witnesses willing to testify
about the final words told to us by THE STUDENT, along with myself, are
also Cuba.
By Pastor Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso
Translated by Raul G.
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