Hablemos Press journalist who wrote about the possible intravenous bacterial infection of Laura Pollan arrested

Havana, October 17, 2011- Six agents from Cuban State Security arrested independent journalist Carlos Rios Otero at his home at 5:30 pm on Friday the 14th.

Rios Otero, who is a member of Independent Press Agency Hablemos Press, had published an article the day before detailing the critical condition of Lady in White Laura Pollan and other cases of Ladies in White who became ill after being injected during acts of repression.

According to the journalist, the agents took him to the Aguilera police station in Lawton, Havana, where he was constantly threatened until after midnight.

His arrest took place two hours before the announcement of Laura Pollan's death, at the same time when it became evident that many of the cell phones of peaceful opposition members had been cut off.

At the home of the journalist at Correa #163, Santos Suarez, a patrol car appeared with two uniformed police officers and two plainclothes agents of State Security. Another two agents in civilian clothes arrived on motorcycles. One said to Rios: "Carlos, we need to talk."

In his articles for Hablemos Press, one on September 12th "IPK Denounces Medical Power," and on October 28th, "Lethal Vaccinations against the Cuban Dissidence," Rios explored the possible relationship between the grave illness of Laura Pollan and the puncture inflicted on her at the last attack she suffered.

He cited previous instances, such as the other Ladies in White who had been injected and then suffered dizzy spells, blurry vision, fever, loss of equilibrium, diarrhea, nausea, cramps, irregular menstrual cycles with heavy bleeding, and other symptoms attributable to bacterial infection or reactions to toxic substances.

Rios said: "They placed me in the back seat between two plainclothes agents and with the two motorcycles leading a caravan that appeared to me as if I were the president of the republic. In the Aguilera station at a section they call "The Pit," they interrogated me and the four agents threatened me regarding signs that had appeared in the streets with the word "NO." I belong to the "NO" campaign. They threatened me with prison for the signs, calling it a "crime of propaganda for the enemy," but I refused to sign an "admission." They interrogated me about my friends and about a repair done on my house - remember that Dr. Darsi Ferrer was imprisoned on the pretext of the materials used in the repair of his house. They avoided talking about my articles dealing with the health of Laura Pollan and the puncture she suffered on her forearm during the last act of repression carried out by them and their paramilitary "Rapid Response Brigades." After releasing me around midnight, one said, 'Laura has died.'"

Carlos Rios believes that the sudden interest in him has nothing to do with the signs on the streets, but with the death of Laura Pollan while he writes of how the government's "battle of ideas" includes suspicious injections.

According to family members, Lady in White and photo journalist for Hablemos Press, Sandra Guerra, was "sequestered by State Security agents on Saturday morning when she was traveling to Havana to attend the funeral for Pollan."

Net for Cuba

 Babalu blog, 

Hablemos Press

SIGN CONDOLENCES BOOK FOR LAURA POLLAN, PRESIDENT OF THE LADIES IN WHITE

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/condolencias-por-el-fallecimiento-de-laura-poll%C3%A1n-tole.html

Laura Pollan Toledo was one of the cofounders of the Cuban opposition movement known as Las Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White). This group arose spontaneously after the arrests in Cuba's Black Spring, of 75 opponents to the regime of Fidel Castro. Women, wives, mothers, sisters and other female relatives of these peaceful men came together to demand their immediate release.

Laura is the wife of independent journalist and prisoner of conscience Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, imprisoned in the 2003 crackdown and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. She was a Professor of Spanish and literature, she worked until May 2004 when she left to fight for her husband's unjust imprisonment.

Laura has spoken out many times, explaining to the international community the repression prevailing in Cuba and denounced the inhuman conditions suffered by prisoners of conscience, deported to prisons far from their families, not receiving proper medical care and to be victims of cruel and degrading treatment.

The home of Laura is one of the meeting places of the Ladies in White. State Security knows this , so more than once Laura has found among her things hidden microphones. But she does not mind, in these five years of struggle for freedom for her husband and all Cuban prisoners of conscience, she and the other ladies have proved to be too brave to be intimidated with threats.

A courageous attitude has led them to confront a host of difficult situations. Insults, threats and smear campaigns released by the Cuban government made every day in their lives. On April 21, 2008, the world witnessed the violent eviction of a group of ladies who were protesting peacefully in the Revolution Square in Havana. Among them was Laura.

As a member of Las Damas de Blanco, Laura along with the other Ladies in White was honored with the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Human Rights in 2005, and in 2006 the prize from Human Rights First.

She contracted a viral infection that affected her lungs and was admitted to the Hospital "Calixto García" in Havana in were she contracted, a second virus that affected her kidneys and she also contracted dengue fever and died on Friday 14 October 2011 in the evening, leaving a deep emptiness and pain in the Cuban community and all lovers of freedom and democracy.

Related articles

• My Tribute to Laura Pollan, a Patriot of Cuba! (sunriseinhavana.blogspot.com)
• Founder of Cuba's Ladies in White dies (repeatingislands.com)
• Cuban Dissidents Mourn Passing Of Ladies In White Founder (huffingtonpost.com)
• Laura Pollán Toledo, Cuban Dissident, Dies at 63 (nytimes.com)
• Obituary: Ladies in White founder and Cuban dissident Laura Pollan dies aged 63 (100gf.wordpress.com)

My Tribute to Laura Pollan, a Patriot of Cuba!

I should have posted here when I received the knews of Laura Pollan death, but I felt like the wind was just beat out of me. I know that things like this have been happening in Cuba since the Castro's came to power, but it never stops being shocking. Laura Pollan, president of "The Ladies in White", was one of the most important leaders that the dissidents had and now she is gone and though she lives in our hearts, this sad news is very difficult for us.

She marched for the freedom of Cuba among the blows and shoves of the State sponsored mobs, never bowing her head and even while being injured by the violence, she marched on. 

She and other dissidents had reported, being poked with needles by members of these mobs, so the possibility that she was poisoned or infected with a biological agent is very real. The Castro's are well documented on these methods of destroying the opposition in the style of the former Soviet Union!

She was able to accomplish what no one in 5 decades was able to acomplish. The Castro Regime feared her.

Her leadership and her fearless confrontations with the Castro mobs, made us all proud and now she is gone, but not forgotten. Bertha Soler, will now take her place.

Soler said.....___"This is a day of mourning for the Ladies in White and for the opposition in Cuba," as reported by the  Associated Press.

The Ladies in White's message to the government is that they will continue protesting!

Laura Pollan legacy will live on and her name will be published in Cuba's history books. This history is being written as we speak by the Cuban resistance. God be with them!

Related articles

• Founder of Cuba's Ladies in White dies (repeatingislands.com)
• Cuban dissidents mourn passing of leader Pollan (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Laura Pollan, founder of Cuban protest group, dies (guardian.co.uk)
• Barack Obama leads tributes after Cuban dissident Laura Pollan's death (100gf.wordpress.com)
• Laura Pollan, founder of Cuban protest group, dies (msnbc.msn.com)
• Cuban Dissidents Mourn Passing Of Ladies In White Founder (huffingtonpost.com)

Freedom For Cuba! (Video)

Thousands Meet by Jose Marti's Bust in Los Angeles

Under a warm Californian sun, Thousands of Cubans and many of our Latin American neighbours and Americans gathered in the name of freedom. I saw Cuban, American, Salvadorian, Mexican, Venezuelans, Honduran flags.

I imagined that our Apostle Marti was watching us proud. All united for the freedom of Cuban political prisoners. Gathered in the name of those who have no freedom of expression, or right to gather to ask for their rights. United for the Ladies in White, so they can continue to march for the freedom of their love ones, without being mistreated or imprisoned.

United in one voice for the world to listen and not be an accomplice to so much violence against a peaceful dissidence and a people that can take no more.

We marched for those we left behind, for the thousands dead at the hands of the Castro dictatorship, for all the mothers who mourn their sons and daughters, for what we lost and for what we hope for. We marched for a better future for future generations.

Sadly, just moments before the schedule speakers arrived, I received a message from Facebook about the critical condition of Guillermo Farina who is on hunger and thirst strike. I remember that shared it with a man who started to cry. Many of us had tears in our eyes during the march and I can't blame them-it's been five decades of waiting for a change that never came.

At the start of the presentation, there was an announcement that they had recieved news from Cuba that Reina Tamayo, mother of murdered political prisoner Orlando Zapata, had been Hacked today, by a mob of Castro sympathizers. There is no honor in torturing a mother in mourning.

Present at the event were Andy Garcia, Perez Hilton, George Lopez, Maria Conchita Alonso, Steven Bower, Huber Matos, among others.

There were scream of down with Fidel, freedom, Zapata lives and in spite of Andy and Conchita's reminders that we could accomplish more in silence, we found difficult to stay quiet. The word silence is not in the Cuban dictionary.

Aproximately at four in the afternoon, we started walking and I have to say it was overcomed by the long line of people, dressed all dressed in white, united by the love of the our country of birth and the admiration of those inside Cuba, who are sacrificing their lives, to leave their children a better future.

Andy García, Talks About the Freedom March Scheduled For Tomorrow in Los Angeles

Join us tomorrow in support of the Ladies in White and all dissidents sacrificing their lives for all Cubans freedom. Please dress in white and bring flowers-gladiolas if you can find them. I tried and no one had any, so we will have to improvise.

IT’S NOT A CUBAN ISSUE…IT’S A HUMAN ISSUE

A week has passed marking the 7TH anniversary of the Cuban government's imprisonment of 75 peaceful human rights advocates and independent journalists known as Cuba's Black Spring. 7 years later, over 50 prisoners of conscience remain in jail.

Only 2 weeks ago, one of these - ORLANDO ZAPATA TAMAYO – recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, died after an 85 day hunger strike. Last week, family members of the 75 – known as LAS DAMAS DE BLANCO (Ladies in White) – organized a 7 day rally on the streets of Havana calling for their release. Many were hauled off violently by force while staging a peaceful protest on 3/17.

Cuban in LA writes to ask for your support and solidarity with them and youth who struggle for peaceful nonviolent change on the island. This Sunday, we’ll be joining events taking place nationally led by Gloria Estefan and Raices de Esperanza.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1) Sign the online petition (link below)
2) Pledge to fast 12 hours beginning Sunday 3/28 at 6am.
3) Attend the Hunger for Change demonstration, Sunday 3/28 from 2-5pm @ Echo Park. Procession begins at 4pm.
**Meet at Jose Marti statue in Echo Park. Please wear white & bring a flower.**
4) Change your Facebook profile picture & tweet about your actions (see images of the Damas below)
5) Email to inform your friends and families, especially non-Cubans.


Petition
Join Oscar-winning director Pedro Almódovar and legendary Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa in calling for the immediate release of all Cuban prisoners of conscience. Sign here: http://firmasjamaylibertad.com/ozt/

12 Hour Fast
Amnesty International prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo, an Afro-Cuban human rights activist, died two weeks ago in a Cuban jail after enduring an 80+ day hunger strike. In response, multiple prisoners of conscience – including Guillermo Farinas - have initiated hunger strikes that have received international attention. Fast for 12 hours to demonstrate true solidarity.

Hunger for Change Demonstration
On March 17th, in the midst of seven days of commemorations marking the 7th anniversary of the Black Spring that summarily imprisoned 75 of their relatives, the Ladies in White were forcibly dragged and carried on to buses by state security to prevent their march. To mark the end of our 12 hour fast, we’ll march around Echo Park, echoing the Ladies in White by wearing white, and carrying flowers and images of the 75. The march will begin and end at the Jose Marti Statue.

Facebook & Twitter
Viral messages are the fastest way to spread information. Change your profile picture on Sunday 3/28 to that of Orlando Zapata Tamayo or the Ladies in White. Update your Facebook status & Twitter feeds with this message: "Today, I'm fasting in solidarity with the Cuban people who hunger for change."

Spread the Word
The power of Hunger for Change lies in spreading information about what’s happened and demonstrating solidarity with those involved. The more people know, the less willing the Cuban government is to continue repressing those in Cuba who dare to speak their own beliefs.

For more info please contact cubansinla@gmail.com

Related articles by Zemanta

• Gloria Estefan leads march for Cuban dissidents (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Dissident dies on hunger strike in Cuban jail (guardian.co.uk)
• Ladies in White march on Cuba crackdown anniversary (calgaryherald.com)

Over 250,000 Marched for Freedon in Little Havana

While in Miami over 250,000 people gathered in the name of freedom, the Ladies in White marched in Havanas famous Malecón, to the sounds of hackleres paid by the regime, but without violence.

Ladies in White Kept From Peaceful Protest

Cuban Police kept mothers, wifes, and sisters of political prisoners and dissidents from marching this Wednesday to demand the release of their loved ones. They were shoved into a bus as they were attempting to visit Orlando Fundora a dissident who had just started a hunger strike.

The group called "Ladies in White", was formed after what became known as the "Black Spring of 2003", when a vicious crack down of dissent. A total of 75 people were arrested then and given in most cases decades long prison terms for nothing more then disagreeing with the government. 53 dissidents remain in jail and 26 of them are very poor health.

These brave women who carry only gladiolas are no strangers to these types of treatments. It just doesn't seem very smart of the Castro Regime to show it's true colors at a time when the world is watching. Several of them were injured during the act of impunity.

Lets hope they stay safe tomorrow on the 7th anniversary of the "Black Spring".

Sources- New York Times

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• Dissident dies on hunger strike in Cuban jail (guardian.co.uk)
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