Via Pedazos de la Isla:
Lady in White: “As Pope Benedict’s visit to Cuba nears, the political police increases its repression”. Another Sunday of Arrests.
This past 11th of March was the twelfth consecutive Sunday that Lady in White and independent journalist Caridad Caballero Batista was forcefully kept from reaching church alongside other Ladies in the city of Holguin. This time, Caballero was arbitrarily detained on Saturday, March 10th, together with her 19-year old son, Eric Sandez Caballero, at around 8:30 AM as they were both aboard a car headed towards a taxi and bus stop at the center of the city to take care of some personal chores.
“As soon as we stepped down from the car, various State Security and political police officials ran at us and aggressively arrested us”, explained the activist, adding that the operation was led by agents Duglas Torres Pupo and Yordanis Martinez Leon, among others. The arrest occurred before the eyes of a number of everyday citizens which were passing by that centric area. Regardless, the regime deployed a number of police vehicles just to arrest two people.
Both mother and son were introduced in one of those police vehicles and taken to the Instructional Unit of Pedernales where they were kept in separate interrogation rooms. “They told us that they were not going to allow us to move freely throughout the country and that they were going to start a smear campaign against us. We responded by saying that we do not care for how many campaigns they carry out against us and that we are anti-Castro until the death, and that we will keep fighting for our rights: for freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and the respect of human rights in Cuba“.
After this exchange of words, Caridad and Eric were moved to separate small and sealed off cells. In the case of Eric, there were 4 other prisoners in his cell, all of who were being charged with different crimes, including robbery. The guards did not give him a mattress and the 19-year old had to sleep on a piece of concrete in the cell. Eric Sandez suffers from a medical condition where his sugar level and blood pressure suddenly drop and the blood flow to his brain becomes insufficient. Whenever this happens to him, he must urgently be rushed to a doctor or a hospital. Despite suffering from such a delicate condition, the functionaries of the Cuban regime still subject Eric to cruel and degrading treatment.
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