Vote "NO" to the Socialist takeover of health care...

Just. Totally. Awesome.

From the Senate hearings on the nomination of Mari Carmen Aponte for the Ambassadorship to El Salvador:

“Between 1982 and 1994, I was romantically involved with a Cuban American. It was a romantic relationship. In the course of that relationship, he had some contacts with the Cuban Interests Section that arose out of volunteer work that he did for Cuban Americans, who like himself, wanted to travel to Cuba to see relatives,” Aponte said

“Because we were dating, were a couple, on occasion we would go out with other couples from the Cuban Interests Section who helped him and facilitated the paperwork. They were all social contacts. There came a time when the relationship was not working out. We finally broke up in 1994. In 1993, in the Clinton administration, I was visited by the FBI who wanted to discuss the relationship with me,” she said.

"He" had "some contacts" in the "Cuban Interests Section" and "on occasion" they would go out with "other couples from the Cuban Interests Section" who "helped him" and "facilitated the paperwork."

Aponte said she attempted to follow up with the FBI over their questions and they dropped the issue of the polygraph, instead asking her to arrange a second meeting with Tamayo.

“They asked instead to meet with Mr. Tamayo at a second location, and they asked if I would set up the meeting. I did. They met, and shortly thereafter the relationship ended, and I never saw him again or saw anybody from the Cuban Interests Section again.”

The FBI and Mr. Average Jose Cuban-American with "some contacts" in the "Cuban Interests Section", who only "helped him" and "facilitated his paperwork", meet and the relationship ends "shortly thereafter" and she "never sees him again."

Because, you know, the Cuban government would never, ever, try to place agents in the US, and especially the US government or anything like that. That's simply unheard of!

I mean, seriously, one look at that picture above and it's perfectly clear to me - perfectly crystal clear - that Mr. Average Jose-Im-Not-A-DGI-Agent was completely and totally like, you know, head over heels in love!

It was that nasty FBI that scared him off! Poor fellow. Those Federal Agents should be ashamed of themselves! Dont they know love is what it's all about?

We as a group have experienced firsthand the brutality and the evil that is the Castro regime, so we are hardly qualified to comment on the goings-on in Cuba. If you want to read meaningful commentary on the topic of Cuba, unblemished by actual experience, you have to turn to Cuba expert Phil Peters and his blog, The Cuban Triangle. It is there where you can get Cuba news from the lofty perspective of an expert in all things related to Cuba.

His sagacious insight into Cuba is not burdened or blemished by the actual experience of living under a totalitarian regime. His reflections on Cuba are not stained with the memories of family members who were tortured and executed by the Castro regime. As Cubans, we may have lived through the dark history of Castro's Cuba and bear the scars from that experience, but that does not make us experts. To reach the elevated title of "expert" in Cuba issues, you have to achieve what Phil Peters has achieved.

Among his many accomplishments, Peters has earned his title as expert in Cuba affairs by...

Well, no one really knows what Peters has done to earn the title of expert other than to position himself to make lots and lots of money exploiting Cuba's tragedy. Nevertheless, we all know that he is the go-to guy for news organizations whenever they talk about Cuba so therefore, he must be an expert.

So in the interest of providing our readers with expert analysis from real Cuba experts, here are the Reflections of the Cuba Expert on yesterday's somber anniversary.

There was a total of three posts on his blog yesterday, and his first post was dedicated to the Damas de Blanco, which in the efficient and to-the-point manner of a true expert, Peters manages to distill the entire history of the dissident ladies group and the beating they received into two short sentences. The rest of that post is a listing of links reporting on the event, so it cannot be really considered commentary from an expert.

The first sentence made a passing reference to the anniversary of the Black Spring, but it was the second and last sentence that was a thing of beauty:

These are tactics we have seen before: a government reaction to show it controls the streets, and short-term detention instead of long-term imprisonment.

Only an expert can see beyond the trivial complaints of dissidents, like beatings, harassment, humiliation, and detentions and point to the fact that this is just the way it has always been. Nothing has changed, so let's just move along and stop wasting the time of the experts on such trivial matters.

The second post was sort of a potluck mix of links to news stories related to Cuba. Not one of them had to do with the Black Spring anniversary, however. Experts like Phil Peters know what is really important and obviously, the roundup, beating, and imprisonment of 75 Cuban dissidents is not that important. I know you may disagree with this, but Phil Peters is the expert and we are simply Cubans; we must defer to his judgment.

When we get to his third and last post of the day, Peters finally commemorates an anniversary. Not of the Black Spring, but of the 50th anniversary of Eisenhower's Program of Covert Action against the Castro Regime. If you are like me, I had no idea that March 18 marked that anniversary, but then again, we are not experts on Cuba matters, we are just Cubans. And since we Cubans are not experts on Cuban issues and therefore not enlightened enough to read Granma--the source Peters references--it comes as no surprise that we had no idea that a much more important anniversary falls on March 18.

What would Cuba and Cubans do if we didn't have these experts around to reflect on our issues and provide us with guidance on the really important matters affecting us all?

These are exciting though scary revolutionary times, akin to the constant acrimony in the fourth-century BC polis, mid-nineteenth century revolutionary Europe, or — perhaps in a geriatric replay — the 1960s. This is an era when the fundamental assumptions of the individual and the state are now being redefined, albeit in a weird, high-tech, globalized landscape.

Read the rest of the story over at My big, fat, Cuban family.

U.S. audiences an American filmmaker's

message of Cuba's prisoners of conscience.

  IN ALTUM PRODUCTIONS & THE PAN-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION, Los Angeles (March 15, 2010) - - OSCAR'S CUBA, a documentary about Amnesty International's prisoner of conscience and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Dr. Oscar E. Biscet, will be pre-screened in Los Angeles at the BARNSDALL GALLERY THEATER on Sunday, March 21, 2010, from 6 to 7:30 PM. There will be a reception prior to the screening between 5 and 6PM. This event is being hosted by Maria Conchita Alonso, and by the City of Los Angeles Department of Arts and Culture.

While in Cuba on another film project, Jordan Allott of In Altum Productions learned of Dr. Biscet's condition and that of more than 200 Cuban political prisoners. Moved by their stories, he felt compelled to make their plight known to the American people.  Allott filmed most of Oscar's Cuba clandestinely on the Island; there, he interviewed Dr. Biscet's wife and other dissidents, including blogger Yoani Sanchez (chosen as one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in the world); Oswaldo Paya, and Gorki Aguila. Risking further reprisals, they talk about the persecution they constantly face under the Castro regime.  The documentary also shows what individuals, international groups and governments are doing to obtain the freedom of those unjustly imprisoned in Cuba.  

 Four-time Grammy award winning Cuban musician, Arturo Sandoval, contributes an original soundtrack to the production. 

 For more info, email to oscarscubala@gmail.com, or visit www.oscarscuba.com

Read Joe Lima's review of Oscar's Cuba at Breitbart's Big Hollywood.

MARCO RUBIO COMMENTS ON 7TH ANNIVERSARY OF CUBAN REGIME’S BLACK SPRING CRACKDOWN ON PRO-DEMOCRATIC LEADERS

Seven years ago today in Cuba, 75 pro-democracy leaders, journalists and human rights activists were arrested, summarily tried and imprisoned for sentences of up to 28 years.  According to the regime, their alleged violations included acting on their consciences by organizing activities to advance the cause of a free and democratic Cuba.

Seven years later, many of these heroes of the Black Spring remain incarcerated alongside other political prisoners in Cuba’s inhumane prisons.  Others are under constant surveillance and pressure from a regime dedicated to suffocating all liberties on the island nation.

For me, the thought of other human beings being deprived of God-given liberties anywhere in the world, especially just ninety miles away from America’s shores, is a tragic reminder of the work that remains to ensure liberty’s blessings reach all corners of the world.

When America’s founding fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence, they outlined the rights of every single person on earth.  When it comes to Cuba, America must continue to demonstrate we still believe that “all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” When it comes to Cuba, America can still show we will continue standing up for every single word our founding fathers used to make America a reality.  This means promoting policies that support the democratic movement in Cuba, and using our microphone as freedom’s most powerful advocate to speak out about the heroic acts of pro-democracy leaders like Oscar Elias Biscet and castigating the cowardly repression of the regime.

My own experience being raised in the Cuban exile community has shaped my perception of the role America should play in promoting universal liberty.  The exile community’s long-standing solidarity with Cuba’s courageous patriots is a testament to the absolute truth that there is no work taking place around the world more important than supporting people who yearn to be what God intended them to be – free.

Cuba’s history has been littered by dark occasions such as the anniversary we are marking today.  But from the despair of that Black Spring, Cuba’s courageous patriots and those they have inspired to stand for freedom give us hope that more and more Cubans will recognize their condition is unacceptable and immoral, and have the courage to act.

Every day, and particularly on this anniversary, I stand in solidarity with the Cuban people yearning and working to be free.

Lorenzo Enrique Copello Castillo, Jorge Luis Martínez Isaac, Bárbaro Leodán Sevilla García "Murdered by firing squad April 11, 2003 for trying to "hijack" a Castroite ferry to Key West.

"Highjack?"... Well, how the HELL ELSE is a Cuban supposed to get hold of a 'freakin boat in Castro's Cuba, where owning one is a crime? BTW, during the (UNSPEAKBLE!!!) Batista era Cubans probably owned more boats per-capita than Americans.

And FEAR NOT! Wayne Smith had a ready rationalization for Castro's murder of the "tres negritos" as Castro reportedly shrugged off the mens' summary murders:

"Why the (Black Spring) crackdown?" wrote Wayne Smith in his article for the neo-Stalinist rag, The Nation, "In part, it was in reaction to growing provocations on the part of the Bush Administration... (emphasis by intransigent poster).

"The death sentences also infuriated those who, like Rep. Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of New York, had been advocating a dialogue with Cuba," read a NY Times article of the time. ''This about ends that discussion,'' said Rangel to the New York Times at the time .

Well, did it?...

HAH!!!....And I predict the "reaction" to this current crackdown will fade even more quickly. Then back to business as usual for all "Cuba Experts," and all their legislative and lobbyist companeros.

Just watch

 At the time of their arrest, thousands of books and reading materials were confiscated, and according to Cuban court documents ordered incinerated--yes they were burned.   This shocking act by the regime was soundly criticized; except that it is by the one group who should have been the most vocal in denouncing the repression,  The American Library Association. 

  Since 2003, the ALA leadership has refused to condemn the castro regime.  This could change in the upcoming ALA election,  Robert Kent of Friends of Cuban Libraries informs us that Sara Kelly Johnsm  candidate for ALA president,  says that  "she has paid close attention to the Cuban library issue. She gave assurances that, under her leadership, diverse views on controversies would be heard within the ALA and that the Cuban library issue would not be permitted to "go under the table."

Below is a list of those librarians who are still incarcerated in castro’s tropical gulag.  They suffer under horrific inhumane conditions; inadequate nutrition, lack of clean water, fresh air and exercise, unsanitary living conditions, denied medical care, and prolonged periods of isolation.  They are harassed, beaten, and often forced to live among common criminals who are rewarded for mistreating them. 

Victor Rolando Arroyo:   Reyes Magos Library, Pinar del Rio. 26 years. Prison Kilo 5 prison, Pinar del Río. Charge:Law 88 and Article 91. Concerns: Since his imprisonment Arroyo has reportedly been diagnosed with various ailments including diabetes, hypertension and pulmonary emphysema (an irreversible lung condition), and has been denied medical attention on several occasions. He has staged protests against prison conditions and as a result has been held in “punishment cells”. He is also said to have been attacked by other prisoners and threatened by the prison authorities. On 23 or 24 August 2008 Arroyo was reportedly transferred from Holguín prison, eastern Cuba, where he had been held since October 2005, to Kilo 5 prison in Pinar del Río, which means that he is now closer to his family. Arroyo’s wife reported that he had been attacked by other prisoners in late 2008.

José Luis García Paneque: Carlos J. Finley Library, Las Tunas. 24 years.   Prison: Las Mangas prison, Granma. Charge: Law 88 and Article 91. Concerns: García Paneque is reported to have suffered mental illness during his imprisonment and to have been held in a prison psychiatric unit from November 2004 to November 2005. He is also said to suffer from acute intestinal illness, which led to malnutrition, diarrhea and weight loss, as well as chronic pneumonia and a kidney tumor. Despite his worsening health, in 2008 he was reportedly deprived of medical treatment. His wife and children are said to have fled to the USA in June 2007 due to constant harassment. As of December 2008, still being held  at Las Mangas prison, where he is reportedly allowed one family visit every 45 days

Ricardo González: Jorge Mañach Library, Havana. 20 years. Prison: Combinado del Este, Havana. Charge: Article 91. Concerns: González has reportedly suffered numerous health problems since his imprisonment, including hypertension, arthritis, a heart condition, chronic bronchitis, digestive and circulatory problems and allergies. He is understood to have had three operations and also to have spent some time in a prison psychiatric ward in 2005. González was hospitalized from September 2007 to January 2008 and continued to be in very poor health once returned to his cell. Despite this he was reportedly denied medical treatment on several occasions in 2008, including not receiving the medicine he had been prescribed for his heart condition. As of early December 2008, González was said to be sharing a cell with 36 criminal convicts, which had reportedly flooded on several occasions, worsening the already unsanitary conditions. González has reportedly been granted a humanitarian visa to travel to Costa Rica, but the Cuban authorities have refused to allow him to leave the island.

Iván Hernández Carillo: Juan Gualberto Gómez Library II, Matanzas. 25 years.   Prison: Guamajal Prison, Villa Clara Charge: Law 88. Concerns: Hernández reportedly suffers from hypertension and gastritis and has frequently complained about prison conditions. He went on hunger strike in 2003 to demand decent food and medicine for seriously ill prisoners and again in 2007 in protest at mistreatment by guards. In 2008 he reported being denied visits, letters and newspapers and being threatened and attacked by other prisoners. He also complained about unsanitary conditions, rotten food and dirty water.

José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández: Sebastián Arcos Library, Havana Province. 16 years.  Prison: Guanajay, Havana. Charge: Article 91. Concerns: Izquierdo has reportedly suffered from numerous ailments since his imprisonment, including pulmonary emphysema (an irreversible lung condition), stomach and intestinal problems and asthma. His health has worsened since 2007, when he was reportedly twice hospitalized for circulation and gastroduodenal problems, and went on hunger strike in protest at the lack of medical attention at the prison. At the end of 2008 it was reported that Izquierdo was suffering from depression.

José Miguel Martinez Hernández: General Juan Bruno Zayas Library, Havana Province. 13 years.  Miguelito as he is known, has served time in various prisons throughout Cuba since he was unjustly sentenced.  The subhuman conditions he is forced to live under are in lack of potable water as the only water prisoners have to drink is available only a few moments a day. It is generally very dark and dirty, and the prisoners must wait for the water to clear a bit before collecting it in improvised jars. The problem is that while the pipes—meant for potable water—are empty, they absorb waste and dirty contaminated water through their many cracks.  March 2008 he reported an outbreak of Tuberculosis in the prison.  Currently incarcerated at Kilo 5 1/2 prison in Pinar del Rio. He is one of  a group who may go on a hunger strike to protest Zapata's death.

Dr. Luis Milán Fernández: 11th of September Library, Santiago de Cuba. 13 years.  has reportedly been arbitrarily confined to a psychiatric ward since February 18, 2005 at the Boniato Prison Hospital in Santiago de Cuba. He is forced to share a cell with patients suffering from a variety of mental disorders and is prohibited from receiving any medicines or food that his family brings him. Before being moved to the hospital, Dr. Milan underwent a medical check-up at the Combinado del Este Prison in Havana during which he was diagnosed with a tumor in the left humerus, loss of hearing, pulmonary emphysema, hypertension, swollen nasal turbinates, and an enlarged liver. Dr. Milan reportedly refused to undergo treatment for these ailments, since he did not trust the medical personnel in the prison.

Blas Giraldo Reyes Rodríguez: 20th of May Library, Sancti Spriitus. 25 years.  Where he is being held,  in one cell block, there are only 92 beds for 107 prisoners, 15 have to sleep on the floor. There are only three toilets, one urinal, two showers and one sink.  He suffers from arterial hypertension, auditory, chronic gastritis, generalized arthritis, and hemorrhoids problems.  He remains defiant, removing pro-castro stickers from the cell in spite of threats.

Fidel Suárez Cruz: St. Paul Library, Pinar del Rio. 20 years.  Suárez Cruz’s wife,- Aniley has to travel over 300 kilometers from Pinar del Rio to Matanzas to visit him in prison. Suárez Cruz refuses to live among the general population in the prison and is therefore punished to solitary confinement by the authorities. Cuban political prisoners run great risks when they are placed among the prison’ general population. As is the case in other countries, the common prisoner population is made up of criminals. These common prisoners are often encouraged by the authorities to abuse political prisoners in exchange for favors.
Due to the lack of medical attention provided by the prison staff, Suárez Cruz’s health is fragile. His family and friends are concerned because he suffers from renal problems which are not being treated.

Sites referenced for this post:

http://marcmasferrer.typepad.com/uncommon_sense/

http://www.netforcuba.org/cubapp/PresosEN.htm

http://www.ruleoflawandcuba.fsu.edu/documents.cfm

http://groups.google.com/group/Cuba451Letters/web/health-and-welfare-of-the-library-prisoners

http://www.friendsofcubanlibraries.org/index.htm

http://www.4freadom.org/index.html

The brave journalists, dissidents and political prisoners who languish or have perished in Cuban jails can probably write books on the Christian concept of suffering. It's their extraordinary courage, conviction and selflessness that triggers their suffering, and they're willing to go through it for the greater good of their cause.

In this season of Lent in which Christians reflect and give up certain things, I can't think of a better modern-day example of our brothers and sisters in Cuba who know that their cause is a righteous one but have to give up so much for it.

I’m not going to sugarcoat or editorialize or plead or try to tug at your heartstrings today. Enough has been said and written about the the Black Spring Crackdown of 2003 and there is plenty of evidence out there to serve as absolute proof of what I am about to shove down your throat:

THERE ARE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN CUBA.
THERE ARE NO CIVIL LIBERTIES IN CUBA.
THERE ARE POLITICAL PRISONERS IN CUBA.
THERE ARE PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE IN CUBA.
THESE PRISONERS, AND THOSE WHO SUPPORT THEIR CAUSE, ARE SUBJECTED TO UNIMAGINABLE BRUTALITY AND INHUMANITY AND REPRESSION.

And you know what? You are an accomplice to the above. Yeah, that’s right. I said you are complicit in the violations of human rights and the torture of human beings.

Because you are.

You may not be swinging the club yourself and the epithets may not be coming from your mouth, but you are definitely a party to it. You are allowing it to happen. Turning a blind eye. Ignoring it. You are the three “no evil monkeys” all wrapped up into one.

And you shouldn’t just be ashamed, you should be disgusted. Nauseated. Unable to sleep.

What does it feel like to torture another human being? What does it feel like to stand idly by while a man’s dignity and humanity are ripped away from him, piece by piece, blow by blow?

Right now you’re thinking to yourself that I am ridiculous. Convincing yourself that I am being extreme. Exaggerating. “This guy is nuts,” your saying to yourself. “It’s ludicrous to suggest that I - I! - am somehow responsible for this inhumanity.”

But just let me ask you one thing while you’re busy convincing yourself you aren’t part of the problem:

HAVE YOU DONE ANYTHING TO STOP IT?

Yeah. I thought so. Not a damned thing.

Of course, right about now you’re trying to assuage your conscience because you have so many other things to worry about in your own backyard and really, this is something happening in a whole other country and besides, what do you have that you could possibly use to help?

Let me put it to you this way: If you do nothing, if you stand idly by and allow the blatant abrogation of the human rights of your fellow human beings and the abject subjugation of their dignity, what the hell makes you think you deserve your own? Can you honestly say that you deserve that which you allow be denied to others?

You have the one thing – THE ONE THING – those men and women need. The one thing they have given their lives for.

You have FREEDOM.

USE IT TO GIVE IT TO OTHERS.

Cuba's political prisoners need your SOLIDARITY NOW.

Do something today to help Cuba's political prisoners. Post the image above on your blog or webpages. Link to this post and others listed below. Tweet it. Facebook it. Do whatever you can to help.

This post will be continuously updated today with more links to information on the human rights violations in Cuba.

Pajamas Media: Cuba's Unknown Dissidents

Uncommon Sense

The Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White)

The Black Season

Alcove One

Penultimos Dias

Desde La Habana

This post will remain at the top all day. For newer posts and more coverage of the Black Spring Crackdown, please scroll down.

Of the four seasons we experience during a year, spring is the season of rejuvenation. It signifies the end of the cold and dreary winter and it is the precursor of summer with its vacations and family barbeques. Spring brings forth blooming flowers and green grass and the temperature is always just right; neither too cold nor too hot. You can open the windows of your house or apartment and allow the cleansing spring breeze to pass through, replacing the stale air inside with crisp and fresh air. Spring marks the beginning of baseball, festivals, and it inspires everyone to leave behind the winter doldrums and begin anew with a fresh and clean start. For most of the world, spring is a season to look forward to, but if you are a Cuban, spring has become a reminder of the blackness and misery of repression.

Since 2003, spring in Cuba no longer represents blooming flowers and carnivals. It instead represents one of the many dark moments Cubans have suffered through in the past 51 years.

On the morning of the 18th of March, 2003, jackbooted thugs fanned out throughout the island with orders from their maximum leader to arrest Cuban citizens. Over the next two days, the thugs arrested a total of 75 Cubans who were accused of being agents of the United States for their activities as independent journalists, dissidents, librarians, and activists. They were all tried and convicted with prison sentences ranging from six years all the way to 26 years. As the rest of the world enjoyed the sights and the smells of spring, 75 Cubans were arrested, beaten, and thrown into tiny, unsanitary jail cells where they would wait for their next beating at the hands of their jailers.

The horrifying actions of the Cuban dictatorship in the spring of 2003 brought upon them condemnation from most of the world’s leaders and governments. With cameras rolling and flash bulbs flashing, politicos stood in front of podiums and decried the vile and oppressive acts of the Cuban dictatorship. By the summer of 2003, however, many of those politicos were enjoying a summer holiday on a Cuban beach as VIP guests of the tyrannical regime.

In reality, there has only been one season in Cuba since 1959: The Black Season. Winters, springs, summers, and autumns have all been black and lifeless to the Cuban people. Flowers may bloom in Cuba in the spring, and tropical breezes may blow across the white sands of its beaches in the summer, but for the typical Cuban who has been enslaved by a murderous dictator, there is only darkness and misery.

Today we remember not only the 7th anniversary of the Black Spring, but also the 51 black years of oppression and darkness that has enveloped Cuba.

I received this email from Paul Crespo, maybe you did also:

Friends,

Due to a groundswell of encouragement I have received from colleagues, friends, and family, I'm seriously considering running as a Republican for U.S. Congress in Florida District 25 , the seat recently vacated by my friend, Representative Mario Diaz-Balart. This won't be an easy decision, nor will it be an easy race, but I believe that these trying times require sacrifice, experience and leadership.

Our country is at an historic crossroads and politics as usual just don't cut it anymore. We need new and effective leadership in Washington. We need to dramatically change the direction of our country. We need to solve our nation's problems not just debate them. And we need all this in 2010!

Those who know me from my years in the media, or worked with me on either of the two GW Bush presidential campaigns here in South Florida, know I'm a genuine Reagan conservative. Unlike most of the professional, career politicians in this race though, I've spent much of my life serving my country as an officer in the U.S. Marines, and promoting freedom as an activist, analyst and commentator outside the political bubbles of Miami or Tallahassee. I'm a problem solver with valuable real-world experience, something we all know is sorely needed in our nation's capital.

I believe I could best represent this district and make a real difference in Washington at this critical juncture in our nation's history. For me this is a mission, not a career.

I hope I can count on your support. Please visit the "Recruit Paul Crespo for Congress" Facebook group that was created for me, join if you can, and invite your friends to join as well.

Here's more from FDD

And President of Civica Americana "Promoting American Values"

Our hearts break for Reina Luisa Tamayo. MSM are you paying attention? How many more Cuban mothers will have their hearts ripped out by these bastards while the international community kisses castro's ass?

Zapata Vive!

More from Breitbart via AFP:

Police detained about 30 people as they marched in Havana Wednesday in a protest led by the mother of a political prisoner who died in a hunger strike, an AFP journalist witnessed.

The so-called "Ladies in White" were heckled by hundreds of government supporters as they marched through Havana with the mother of Orlando Zapata, who died in a prison hunger strike February 23.

Police moved in and female officers forced the dissidents into two buses, which drove off to an unknown destination.

"We are protesting peacefully and we are not going to get on the bus of a government that has kept our family members in prison for seven years," said Laura Pollan, the leader of the group, just before being forced on.

As police were taking the women away, Margarita Rodr?ez, a housewife in a crowd of some 300 pro-government demonstrators, shouted: "Board them by force, it's what they deserve. This is a provocation."

The Ladies in White, a group of wives and mothers of political prisoners, had been staging marches every day this week to mark the anniversary of a 2003 crackdown that jailed 75 opposition activities, 53 of whom are still behind bars.

The women began the day Wednesday with prayers in a Catholic church before setting out, apparently intent on visiting dissident Orlando Fundora, who was jailed in the 2003 crackdown but later released for health reasons.

At the head of the march was Reyna Luisa Tamayo, Zapata's mother, who has charged that her son had been tortured in prison and that his death on the 85th day of a hunger strike amounted to "premeditated murder."

The incident sparked international outrage and new calls for Havana to free political prisoners.

The government says there are no political prisoners in this Caribbean nation of more than 11 million people, and claims there is no torture and that dissidents are paid pawns of the United States.

A day after Zapata's death, activist Guillero Fariñas, 48, began his own hunger strike to press for the release of 26 political prisoners in need of medical care.

Hospitalized a week ago in the central city of Santa Clara, he is being fed intravenously on doctors' orders.

Meanwhile, a virulent campaign launched by state media to counter what it says is a "defamatory" campaign against Cuba in Europe intensified last week after the European Parliament passed a resolution deploring Zapata's avoidable death.

Every day, the Cuban media has denounced the mistreatment of immigrants or "police brutality" in countries like Spain, France and Germany.

They accuse Europe of pursuing a "neo-colonial" and "subversive" policy together with the United States to "destabilize" a revolution already struggling with a serious economic crisis.

"After the Americans, it is now our turn to experience a degradation in our relations with the government" of Raul Castro, said a European diplomat, who said he was unsure what would happen at a meeting of the European "troika" with Cuba in Madrid April 6.

In Madrid, Oscar-winning Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar has signed a petition calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Cuba, his production company said on Tuesday.

Several personalities, including Spanish-Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, are among some 5,000 people who have already signed it.

The petition calls for "the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Cuban jails and the respect of the exercise, promotion and the defence of human rights throughout the world."

But if Zapata's death has upset Havana's traditional relations with the European left, Cuba still enjoys broad support in Latin America where elected governments in Brazil, Uruguay and Bolivia have come to its defense.

"Imagine what would happen if all the bandits detained in Sao Paulo went on hunger strike and demanded their freedom," said Brazil's President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, a friend of the Castro brothers, refusing to intercede on behalf of some 200 Cuban political prisoners.

Thanks to the internet, the news of the reprehensible assassination of Orlando Zapata Tamayo by the Cuban dictatorship has reached all corners of the world. With every email, Tweet, and Facebook posting coming out of the island, the world is finally coming closer to the realization that Cuba is not a country, but a huge slave plantation where the slave masters punish their slaves with death when they disobey or dare question their master.

After the political execution of Zapata, my worst fear was that the world would soon bury his memory in the vast and unmarked grave in oblivion where the long forgotten memories of thousands of other Cuban martyrs are buried. But as each day passes, his memory is growing stronger and I am seeing a reaction from those who never spoke out for the oppressed in Cuba that--at least in my lifetime--I have never seen.

The tide indeed appears to be turning and with each new signature and each new declaration of solidarity, we come that much closer to finally achieving the end of oppression in Cuba.

If you have not yet signed the petition, you can add your name and your support HERE.