Cubans are standing up against the castro dictatorship, by standing up for each other.
At the Aguilera police station in Havana, between 15 and 25 activists are conducting a sit-in, demanding the release of Juan Bermudez Toranzo. Bermudez was arrested Nov. 21 at his home, while leading a fast on behalf of Cuban political prisoners.
And on Wednesday afternoon, about eight activists started a protest outside the Guanabacoa police station, also in Havana, according to a report by independent journalist Tania Maceda Guerra, posted at Payo Libre. They are demanding the release of former political prisoner Manuel Pérez Soria, who was arrested Tuesday. At the time of his arrest, Pérez was on a hunger strike, started to force police to return to him his identity papers.
Another activist arrested with Pérez, Vladimir Alejo Miranda, was released after about six hours of interrogation, according to Maceda’s story. But Pérez remained in jail — because he didn’t have his identity papers.
These are small protests, unlikely to force the police to do anything it doesn’t already plan to do. Nonetheless, they are vital — and in the end, key to victory in the struggle for freedom — because they demonstrate the willingness of at least some Cubans to stand as witnesses to the crimes of tyranny.
Whether they are the Damas de Blanco marching on behalf of their loved ones, activists holding fasts and vigils for political prisoners, or small groups sitting-in for their friends, they are letting the dictatorship, and the world, know that they will not go down without a fight.
Ultimately, as their faith and their determination to stand for each other demonstrates, they will prevail.
…an island on the net without a bearded dictator
