Luis Felipe Rojas, Translator: Raul G.
"We have never lied to the people. The unity of our people is not based
on the worship of an individual or of the cult of personality of a
certain individual. It is based on a solid and profound political
conscience. The relationships of the direction of our Revolution and the
people are based on conscience, based on principles, based on proven
loyalty, and among other things, based on the fact that we have never
lied to the people".
- Fidel, July 18th 1985.
That's what the cover of Granma looked like this past May 11th in order
to justify the death of a human being from Santa Clara just a few days
prior. But it turns out that not telling a lie means not to speak it.
When, in your country, while you try to sleep at night you are haunted
by the images of your beaten friends, of women who have shared a lump of
bread and a bit of watered down soda with you, or have slept next to you
on a train while trying to move from one place to another or to help
someone in need, then the truth dies or is injured. The photos which
come along with this post were taken in Caimanera, Guantanamo, and
Bayamo. And while all the women are not beaten, nevertheless they are
testimonies of just how much humans are hurt when a totalitarian
government wants to impede the flood of freedom which inevitably rushes
upon them.
Yisel Flores, Maria Alfonso Cordova, and Elisa M. Reiner are three
dissidents toward the regime; they reside in the municipality of
Caimanera in an enclave which is special because of its location near to
the American Naval Base of Guantanamo. On January 27th they were
brutally beaten under the orders of the so-called State Security, the
National Revolutionary Police, and their paramilitary gangs known as the
Rapid Response Brigades.
The beatings of Caridad Caballero Batista, Martha Diaz Rondon, or Reina
Luisa Tamayo Danger have also been denounced in this blog.
Yakelin Garcia Jaenz was beaten in Bayamo this past February just for
opposing the imprisonment of her husband, Ariel Arzuaga Pena, and while
attempting to respectfully commemorate the death of Orlando Zapata
Tamayo. The windows of her home were destroyed by the mobs, while
absolutely nothing happened to the aggressors. Today, Ariel awaits a
trial with the prosecutor requesting a sentence of 8 years in jail.
The government continues, the lies flow, and truth awaits at the bend of
the road.
Translated by Raul G.
May 22 2011
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