The following just in from Babalu reader Lori M, about a former Cuban political prisoner that just made it to Miami after some harrowing and life changing experiences. I’ve been unable to find any info or coverage of this on the internet:
Val, here is the information on that gentleman with the amputated arms.
I wasn’t able to speak to him directly because he had been taken to get some tests run.
This is what his aunt Pilar told me about his plight.
He had been sentenced to 6yrs in prison for trying to leave numerous times from Cuba. During his sentence a friend of his sneaked in some “luz brillante”, so he could inject his arms and when his arms swelled they’d take him to the hospital. At that point they would smuggle him out, through pay-outs and get him on a raft to again attempt to leave.
As it turns out the guards ignored his plees when his arms became swollen and even went as far as putting him in solitary for bothering them. After some time, they finally took him to el Hospital de Moron, where it was so late, they had to amputate both his arms. They took him back to jail and some months later they released him. At which point his friend found another way to get him out and here to the US. The whole adventure of how they arrived here, is a nightmare and a story in it self. He’s been in Miami a week, they smuggled him through Mexico, but through some fancy foot work, they were able to fly him right into the US.
His family is now seeking financial help to get him prosthetics, so he can work and bring his wife and daughter over from Cuba.
His name is Jorge E. Albal, he’s 36 years old and he can be reached at (email val for phone number).
There is already an organization trying to see if they can get him to Geaneva, to expose his story and all the others he lived while in jail. There is an account of a man who was hung by his wrists for asking too many times for insulin, as he was diabetic. Well the man died there, hung by the wrists. He’s has names of all those people and of the guards responsible.