Forty-Seven Opposition Members Meet In Havana, No Arrests Reported

Forty-Seven Opposition Members Meet In Havana, No Arrests Reported /
Hablemos Press, Lisbán Hernández Sánchez
Posted on June 21, 2015

The purpose of the meeting was to show audiovisuals of various struggles

Hablemos Press, Lisbán Hernández Sánchez, Havana, 19 June 2015 — Despite
a show of force, Cuban police did not arrest activists of four different
opposition groups who on June 15 took part in an audiovisual workshop.

For the activists, it was strange that there were no reported
detentions, as has occurred on other occasions with a smaller number of
participants.

The activists attending the meeting were from the Opposition Movement
for a New Republic (MONR), the Democracy Movement (MD), the National
Resistance Front (FNR), and the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU).

The meeting took place at No. 18406 5th Street, between 184th and Final
Streets in the Porvenir suburb, Rancho Boyeros municipality, Havana,
where police have arrested dozens of dissidents for attending meetings.

"The audiovisual workshop that took place here in my house, headquarters
of our organization, was for the purpose of discussing some
documentaries, among them, The Art of War," said José Díaz, MONR director.

The documentary "shows various strategies for different forms of the
struggle," he added.

"We took the opportunity of meeting to welcome new members, and also to
collect complaints about the repression that took place this past 14
June at the church of St. Rita of Casia," Díaz explained.

According to a note from the organizers of the event, some 47 activists
were able to arrive at the organization headquarters, despite the
ostentatious police presence in the area.

"Agents of the National Police and the Department of State Security,
along with Rapid Response Brigades, were trying to impede the arrival of
activists to this event," explained Mario Alberto Hernández of MONR,
affirming that "no arrests have been reported."

On 14 June, police arrested more than 70 dissidents who were exiting St.
Rita Church, alleging that they would carry out protests. During the
attack, police beat various women, including the artist Tania Bruguera,
and Ada María López Canino of the Ladies in White.

Translated by Alicia Barraqué Ellison

Source: Forty-Seven Opposition Members Meet In Havana, No Arrests
Reported / Hablemos Press, Lisbán Hernández Sánchez | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/forty-seven-opposition-members-meet-in-havana-no-arrests-reported-hablemos-press-lisban-hernandez-sanchez/