FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The 2013 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent Awarded to Ali Ferzat, Park Sang Hak, and the Ladies in White NEW YORK (May 3, 2012)- The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) today announced the recipients of the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent. The 2013 laureates are: Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat, North Korean [...]

Last week it was the tale of two black women in Cuba. This week it's the tale of two rappers. Well, that was fast, huh? You wrote a real good rap song, real good rap song, Jay-Z. It's all about his trip to Cuba and his transforming and enlightening experiences there. Must've wrote it on [...]

There are few men and women who will risk everything to be free. Vladimir Bukovsky, Soviet dissident, who turned 70 last Sunday, is one of those. Our own brothers and sisters in Cuba who oppose tyranny, living or killed by the regime are our modern day Bukovskys, Solzhenitzyns, Sakharovs, and Sharanskys in Cuba. We need many [...]

Laura, in her own words on why the Ladies in White are out on the street, "We cannot allow our men, our families to be destroyed. We cannot allow them to die in prison." I will always remember Laura Pollan. This inspiring lady, wife, mother, and teacher, never imagined that she would become a political [...]

Prayers for Sonia Garro's health and safety... Sonia Garro, a female pro-democracy activist and member of the Ladies in White, was imprisoned on March 18th of this year. According to Garro's sister, she has been receiving numerous death threats at the women's prison of "El Guatao", where she remains incarcerated without charges or trial. She [...]

Cuban pro-democracy leaders Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello, Jorge Luis García Pérez "Antunez", and 26 others, faced off with the repressive Castro machine and won. Capitol Hill Cubans: A Victory for the Hunger Strikers  The Castro regime has just released Cuban pro-democracy activist Jorge Vazquez Chaviano, whose unjust prison term had ended over a week ago. [...]

Watching the Republican National Convention this evening; listening to the speeches, I at times found myself wiping away tears caused by a gut wrenching response to words affirming our great America experiment in a government of the people, and by the people.  I cry easily, I know some might think it corny, but I'm the daughter of [...]

Capitol Hill Cubans: Cuban pro-democracy activists Gertrudis Ojeda Suárez and Yoandris Ricardo Mir are each facing two-year prison sentences. Their crime? "Defecating on Fidel Castro's mother." No joke. That's what the official documents stated at a judicial proceeding against them in the eastern town of Banes. The truth is that the couple hung anti-Castro signs [...]

From Capitol Hill  Cubans: 200 Political Arrests in Just Two Weeks Thursday, August 16, 2012 According to the independent news agency Hablemos Press, the Castro regime has conducted over 200 political arrests between August 1st-14th alone. Among these were 38 members of the Ladies in White. Additionally, the agency is calling on Amnesty International to [...]

Once again, we are reminded that there is no real freedom in Cuba.  When you hear about political prisoners freed in Cuba, it doesn't really mean they are free.  It means they are no longer behind prison bars, only behind the bars of the island prison that is Castro's Cuba.  If they dare to exercise their God [...]

Diario de Cuba: As noted by Capitol Hill Cubans, the participants all remain detained. They are: They are: Lázaro Mendoza García, Jorge González Echendia, Luis Enrique López Torres, José Antonio Pompa López, Ernesto Márquez Herrera and Wilfredo Piloto.

Everyday we hear of more beatings, more arrests, and more stories of  heroic men and women risking their lives in the name of freedom. Jailed Cuban dissident rushed to hospital after long hunger strike By Juan O. Tamayo Dissidents in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba reported Monday that jailed activist Frank Montero, who [...]

If you're an early riser,  listen to Silvio Canto's one on one with Robert Kent from The Friends of Cuban Libraries.  Robert is a longtime friend of Babalú and indefatigable defender of human rights for the  Cuban people.  For years, he has battled The American Library Association's refusal to acknowledge and recognize the independent Cuba libraries, and [...]

Gorki Aguila Carrasco, Yoani Sanchez, and others on Twitter and Facebook report that popular Porno Para Ricardo guitarist Ciro Diaz has been arrested in Cuba. Also rounded up on eve of Human Rigts Day, Guillermo Fariñas, Antúnez and his wife Yris Perez, Darsi Ferrer and his wife, Librado LInares, Angel Moya, José Ferrer, Jorge Cervantes, and many [...]

After being held hostage in Gaza for five years Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is finally released and returning home to his devoted family in Israel. Apparently the deal involved a prisoner exchange with Palestinians. One IDF soldier for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners (terrorists). TEL NOF AIR FORCE BASE, Israel — Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit returned to [...]