Lia Villares Finally Makes it to the United States

Lia Villares Finally Makes it to the United States


Lia Villares is considered a "persecuted political" who is "under
paramilitary harassment". (Facebook)
14ymedio, Havana, 3 May 2017 – The independent activist Lia Villares
finally traveled to the United States on Wednesday, as confirmed to
14ymedio by the dissident musician Gorki Aguila.

On Tuesday, Villares was not able to board her flight to the US, after
being detained by the police on her way to the airport. The activist
called the action a "kidnapping" and "forced disappearance" in a post
that she published on her Facebook page hours after her arrest.

Villares explained that she took a taxi from the door of her home with
the intention of traveling to the airport, in order to attend the
concert of her friend David D Omni ZF at the New Orleans Jazz Festival.
A few blocks from her home, a State Security agent who identified
himself as "Jordan" stopped the car and forced her into a National
Revolutionary Police (PNR) car, according to her note.

Villares says she was taken to the Tarara detention center (east of
Havana), a very long way from her home in Vedado, and the agent insisted
that she hand over her cell phone. "They left me for three hours inside
the police car, waiting for the time to pass so I would miss my flight,"
she denounces.

The activist said that she remained "silent" in response the questions
of the agent who, before leaving her at home, pointed out that from that
moment on he would become her shadow

The activist said that she remained "silent" in response the questions
of the agent who, before leaving her at home, pointed out that from that
moment on he would become her shadow.

According to her testimony, this is the same officer who had been
monitoring her home on Saturday April 15, coinciding with the screening
of the documentary Nadie, by Cuban filmmaker Miguel Coyula, which was
supposed to have been screened at the El Círculo Gallery, a venue
coordinated by Villares.

After being released, Villares asked about her legal situation and
demanded to know why she had been prevented from taking the trip she had
scheduled, but the agent only replied, "Why not."

"This impunity enjoyed by agents and officers who lend themselves as
accomplices [to the regime] can not pass unchallenged," says Villares,
who is considered a "persecuted political" and is "under paramilitary
harassment."

Source: Lia Villares Finally Makes it to the United States – Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/lia-villares-finally-makes-it-to-the-united-states/