With no other weapon to wield in a repressive society that quashes and punishes the most minuscule expression of dissent, members of Cuba’s peaceful opposition are left with no other choice than to harm their own bodies in their quest for international attention. The world has chosen to look the other way when the Castro regime brutalizes these courageous dissidents, ignoring the beatings, inhumane treatment, imprisonment, and harassment they have been subjected to for decades. The world has employed any means, no matter how dishonest, to excuse the ruthlessness of the Castro dictatorship, choosing to close their eyes and ears to the screams for help that have been emanating from the island for more than half a century.This leaves the peaceful opposition on the island with no other choice but to inflict harm on their own bodies in the hope that the world will open its eyes to the atrocities being committed in Cuba, and finally act to bring an end to the tyranny that has oppressed them for so many years.
It is a sad commentary on the conscience of this world when an enslaved and repressed people must resort to harming themselves in order for their struggle to receive the attention it deserves. It speaks not only to the bravery and commitment to freedom these activists possess, but also the cowardice and lack of compassion of those that have ignored their plight for so long.
Pedro Arguello Moran and Diosdado Gonzalez, two imprisoned members of the opposition who are part of the 11 who have refused banishment as a condition of their release, have started a hunger strike to to bring attention to their struggle. These peaceful democracy activists have rejected the regime’s offer of forced exile. They have stood firm against the pressure being exerted upon them by Cuba’s Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino who has taken on the diabolical role of the dictatorship’s accomplice in this effort to rid the island of all dissidents. Alejandrina Garcia de la Riva, wife of Diosdado and a Lady in White has joined them, risking her life along with that of her husband and his fellow prisoner of conscience.
Marc Masferrer at Uncommon Sense has more on the hunger strike. And below is a message from Alejandrina.
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