Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia

Angel Moya

The wave of repression that Raul Castro's "reforms" has unleashed upon the Cuban people continues to roll over the island. Late yesterday, former Black Spring prisoners of c0nscience Angel Moya and Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia were arrested by Castro State Security.

Cuban dissidents detained ahead of protest

HAVANA—A leading human rights worker said Friday that authorities have detained two former political prisoners in eastern Cuba, the first arrests involving members of a group of 75 intellectuals and social commentators since they were freed after a 2003 crackdown on dissent.

The detention of Angel Moya and Jose Daniel Ferrer occurred as the men were preparing to march in the town of Palma Soriano, said Elizardo Sanchez, a prominent human rights activist on the island. Moya is the husband of Berta Soler, a leader of the Ladies in White dissident group.

The last of the prisoners from 2003 were freed earlier this year under an agreement between Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega and President Raul Castro, but the Ladies in White have kept up their opposition activities.

Sanchez said the detentions occurred a day after a march by the Ladies in White in Santiago at which nearly two dozen people were detained, including another of the group's leaders, Laura Pollan. But all of those people were quickly released, he said.

A similar march Thursday in Havana also resulted in arrests, though Soler told The Associated Press that those detained in the capital were not linked to her group.

More coverage of the arrests at Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter.