Videos of the arrival of Ariel Sigler at Miami International Airport

July 29 - Our friend Alberto de la Cruz of  Babalublog was at MIA yesterday when former prisoner of conscience Ariel Sigler Amaya arrived.

He took these 2 videos of how his brothers in exile received this Cuban hero.

Ariel Sigler arrived in Miami and was admitted to Jackson Memorial Hospital

July 28 - Ariel Sigler Amaya, the former Cuban prisoner of conscience who is paralyzed from the waist down after 7 years in Castro's Gulag, arrived at Miami International Airport on Wednesday afternoon to begin receiving medical care at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Siegler was received at the airport by more than 100 Cuban exiles, including Miami's Mayor Tomás Regalado.

"This dictatorship has very little time left, and I think this will be a temporary departure,'' Sigler said.
He entered the US with a humanitarian visa. His wife and kids remained in Cuba.

Cuban dissidents met with Aznar and asked the EU not to change its Common Position on Cuba

July 28 - Spain's former Prime Minister, José María Aznar, met with  a group of Cuban dissidents on Wednesday, including several of those who were released from prison and forced to travel to Spain.

Aznar and the dissidents asked the European Union to maintain its Common Position regarding Cuba, because the Castro regime has not changed.

"For Cuba to change, we have to see the Cubans being able to join in trade unions, political parties, professional associations, speaking freely and expressing themselves at the ballot box in a free atmosphere," said Antonio Ramón Díaz Sánchez, who was part of the group of dissidents who was released from prison and sent to exile in Spain.
Aznar asked for "a democratic regime" for all Cubans and stressed that "the freedom and dignity of people cannot be auctioned."
He asked the EU to maintain its current sanctions against the Castro regime.  Read the entire article at the realcubablog

Warning to all those Americans who want to go to Cuba as tourists

July 27 - After nearly a week of Canadians voicing their outrage and political opponents blasting the federal government for its handling of Cody LeCompte’s Cuban detention, the prime minister has finally heard the teen’s cries for help.

The Simcoe teen’s story, which has appeared in the Sun almost daily since Thursday, has prompted others to step forward with their horror stories, and the Harper government now recognizes there’s a problem.

“We called in Cuban officials today and raised our concerns about Canadians being detained without any charges,” a senior official, who asked not to be named, said Tuesday. “We also asked that these cases be resolved expeditiously.”

It seems that the case of the Canadian teen currently being held in Cuba, is only the tip of the iceberg.

That happens when you go as tourists to a lawless country. Read the entire article at the realcubablog

It's not the embargo, it's the stupid system that doesn't work

July 27 - While a chorus of voices in the U.S. increasingly demand that the Obama administration completely drop its economic embargo and 'normalize' relations with Cuba, such an event would not necessarily positively impact the Communist island – at least not in the near-term.

The physical infrastructure in Cuba and the existing economic system there are so dilapidated that it would take a long time even for a 'free Cuba' to become anything resembling a decent modern economy, according to Dr. William N. Trumbull, interim dean at the College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University in Morgantown.

“Cuba is an utter disaster,” he said. “Their economy is a basket case because of its economic system, not because of the embargo. Lifting the embargo might help a bit, of course, but not by much. The real problem with Cuba is itself.”

 Read the entire article at the realcubablog

The BBC about Fidel no-show and Raul's silence

July 26 - Not since the heyday of Kremlinology has so much been read into the presence, or absence, of a communist leader.

Would Fidel Castro show up at today's Revolution Day celebrations in central Cuba? If so, what would it mean? And if he didn't, what would that mean?

Would Fidel Castro show up at today's Revolution Day celebrations in central Cuba? If so, what would it mean? And if he didn't, what would that mean?

The answer to the first question came when current dictator Raúl Castro and other communist party leaders took their seats for the speeches in Santa Clara – but no Fidel. Read the entire article at the realcubablog

Getting the mummy ready for the July 26 "celebration"

"I didn't ask to come to Spain"

July 25 - "I'm not going to Alicante. I'm staying in Madrid. . . . They will have to use the Civil Guard to get me out of here. I didn't ask to come to Spain. The Spanish government made commitments to us [in Havana] and now we feel abandoned," Julio César Gálvez, one of the Cuban prisoners of conscience that were forced to travel to Spain after being released from prison.

Read the entire article at the realcubablog

Health minister is latest victim of the ongoing purge

July 23 - Cuba's official press reported today the firing of José Ramón Balaguer as minister of health.

Balaguer, who is 78 years and has always been considered as a hard-liner, will be replaced by Roberto Morales Ojeda, 43, who was serving as deputy health minister.

Last June, the Castro brothers fired the transportation minister for alleged professional mistakes and replaced the head of the Sugar Ministry after he admitted incompetence.

In March,

Also in March, another member of the old guard, Rogelio Acevedo, was abruptly dismissed as the overseer of Cuba's airlines and airports after reports that security agents found several million dollars hiding in a water tank at his home.

Colombia: There are 1,500 FARC terrorists hiding in Venezuela (UPDATED)

July 22 - 12:45 PM - According to the Colombian ambassador to the OAS, his government has confiscated several new computers from FARC terrorists, that have information "much more important" than what was found in the computers of slain guerrilla leader Raúl Reyes.

According to Ambassador Hoyos, the information "shows that officials of the Venezuelan government are involved with the FARC terrorists." The ambassador said that the information includes complete names and bank accounts.

12:15 PM The government of Colombia has shown photos and videos of "Iván Márquez", a FARC guerrilla leader whose real name is Luciano Marín Arango, inside Venezuelan territory.

The Colombian ambassador told the members of the OAS that Márquez travels to a farm in Venezuela farm, known as "La Mochila," at least twice a month.

There are seven farms inside Venezuela where FARC guerrillas "prepare explosives that are later used to murder Colombian citizens," the Colombian ambassador said.

11:30 AM An extraordinary session of the permanent council of the Organization of American States (OAS), requested by Colombia, is currently under way in Washington.
Colombian ambassador to the OAS, Luis Alfonso Hoyos, submitted 10 videos, 12 testimonies of demobilized FARC terrorists, more than 20 photographs and coordinates of several terrorist camps that are located inside Venezuelan territory.

"We have the right to demand that Venezuela doesn't hide those terrorists who are persecuted by the security forces of Colombia," Hoyos said.

The Colombian ambassador said that there acre currently 1,500 FARC terrorists hiding in Venezuelan soil, and warned the Venezuelan people that this represents a "very grave" problem for their own country. Read the whole story at the realcubablog

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US diplomats: Prisoners who go to Spain wont be able to ask the US for asylum

July 20 - U.S. diplomats in Havana have told relatives of jailed Cuban dissidents that it will be more difficult for them to apply for asylum in America if they first accept a Church-brokered deal to trade jail for exile in Spain.

The meetings, confirmed by the family members of six imprisoned dissidents, come at a delicate time and could complicate releases of some 52 activists, journalists and opposition leaders arrested in a 2003 crackdown. Read the whole story at the realcubablog
 

Cuban Prisoner Normando Hernández Gonzalez Recalls Rage, Rats, Starving

July 20 - After seven years and four months in some of Cuba’s most infamous prisons, journalist and poet Normando Hernandez Gonzalez is finally free.

Gonzalez had no celebratory Spanish meal of eels upon his arrival; even baby food leaves him with painful cramping. “My digestive system,” he said, is “shot to pieces.” So far, he’s only had one perfunctory medical examination.
Read the whole story at the realcubablog

Ariel Sigler and his wife beaten by Cuba's state security agents

July 19 - Miguel Sigler, brother of Ariel Sigler, the paraplegic former political prisoner who was released from Castro's prison last month, told radio host Ninoska Pérez Castellón during her afternoon program, that his brother, accompanied by several other relatives, went to Cuba's immigration office this morning where he was supposed to receive the "white card" that would allow him to travel to the US to receive medical care.
Instead, he was told that he had to wait at least 2 months and was beaten by several state security agents when he began to protest.

Read more at  the realcubablog

Payá: "The dignity, rights and even feelings of those who have been freed are not being respected"

July 16 - The coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Payá, slammed the Cuban government this week for not respecting the rights of the recently-freed political prisoners and sending them into exile. He vowed the fight to free Cuba would continue forward.

“Some wish to portray this action by the government as change in Cuba (I wish it were change),” Payá continued. He noted that if the Spanish government and Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs “are saying this is the beginning of the changes, Cubans aren’t aware of it, and it seems the Cuban government isn’t either.”  Read the whole story at the realcubablog

They finally found the perfect place to put the image of che Guevara

Multimedia artist Lili Bernard sent me this photo of the che Guevara urinal she made.

Finally, someone put to good use the image of the Argentine terrorist.

I wonder how long is the line to use this urinal!

Spanish TV report about Darsi Ferrer's trial and his release from prison

Courtesy of www.cubademocraciayvida.org

I just spoke with Dr. Darsi Ferrer

June 22 - 5 :30 PM I was finally able to get through to the cell phone of Dr. Darsi Ferrer's wife.

It has been busy all afternoon since the news of his release.

Yusmaini, his wife answered the phone. She told me that they have received the visit of dozens of friends, including many dissidents.

And an incredible number of phone calls from all over the world.

When Darsi came to the phone the first thing that he said was: "That t-shirt that you sent me made me famous at the prison. The other prisoners were so proud to see me wear a t-shirt saying that I was a free man."

I told him that he already was famous long before that, thanks to his courage for letting the world know the truth about the terrible health care in Castro's Cuba.

He sounded great. I told him that I thought about him a lot on Father's Day, knowing that he couldn't be with his son, but that I was happy to know that he could be with him now.

He ended up the conversation by saying: "Well, I'm back and ready to get back to work."

That has to be great news for Cuba's future!

Welcome home Darsi, may God bless you and your family.

Cuban exiles protest in front of Madrid's Apostolic Nunciature

June 19 - Cuban exiles rallied Friday in front of Madrid's Apostolic Nunciature to protest against the Catholic Church's dialogue with the Castro regime, which has failed to consider the position of Cuban dissidents in the island.
The protesters asked to see the Pope's nuncio in Spain, but a spokesperson at the Nunciature told them to try to contact him on Monday and promised to let the Vatican know that they are not happy with the talks between the Cuban Church and the Castro regime.

Read the whole story at the realcubablog

In Chávez's Venezuela, Stalin has replaced Bolivar

June 18 - Earlier this week, a group of 'chavistas' staged a protest in front of the Chamber of Commerce of the state of Lara, Venezuela.

The protesters were mobilized using government vehicles.

The pro-Chávez thugs defaced the front of the building with graffiti, writing signs on the walls calling the members of the Chamber of Commerce "fascists", "murderers" and "terrorists" and asking for the regime to confiscate their businesses without compensation.

And this time the chavistas were not carrying posters with the photo of Simon Bolívar, like they used to do when their leader was portraying himself as democratic and nationalistic.

Now, the pro-Chávez thugs were carrying signs with the photos of Stalin, one of the world's worst mass murderers, Lenin, Marx and Engel.

Can you imagine what would happen if protesters in any Latin American country would carry posters with photos of George Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson? They would be accused of being "imperialist puppets paid by the CIA". But it is OK to carry posters of those who were responsible for the death and suffering of ten of millions of people.

Argentinean soccer fans displaying a photo of Mandela with a drug addict and a murderer

June 17 - This banner was displayed at South Africa's Soccer City stadium during today's game between South Korea and Argentina.

It shows former South African President Nelson Mandela with Diego Maradona and che Guevara.

I wonder what Mandela has to say about being on a banner with a drug addict and a murderer.

Can you see the difference?

Here is a photo of Fidel Castro after his arrest in 1953, for leading an assault against a military garrison that resulted in the death of more than two dozen people, between attackers and government soldiers.

After the attack failed, Fidel Castro went into hiding.

He turned himself in after Santiago de Cuba's Archbishop, Msgr. Enrique Perez Serantes, guaranteed his life and a right to a fair trial.

He was sentenced to 15 years in jail, but was pardoned after only 21 months and 15 days in jail.

These are photos of Castro walking out of prison and being received by sympathizers at a railroad station..

Castro referred to his time in prison as a vacation at a  "country club," in letters that he wrote to friends while he was in jail.

When he left prison after being pardoned, he looked even healthier than when he went in.

Now lets look at these photos of Ariel Sigler Amaya the prisoner of conscience that was paroled yesterday by the Castro regime after 7 years in prison.

Ariel Sigler didn't commit any violent crime, as Castro did. He didn't cause any deaths, as Castro did.

His only crime was collecting books to open a Public Library at his home.

For that, Ariel and his brother, who still remain in jail, were sentenced to 20 years in Castro's Gulag.

Before Ariel Sigler Amaya went to jail he used to be a heavyweight boxer.

This is how he looked back then:

Now look at these photos of Ariel Sigler Amaya, when he arrived at his home on Saturday after 7 years in Castro's Gulag.

Can you see the difference between the jail of Batista, the "dictator," and the Gulag run by the Castro brothers, the torturers who the main stream media still refer to as the "former president" and "current president" of Cuba?

The image of Cuban martyr Orlando Zapata Tamayo, followed Silvio Rodríguez to Carnegie Hall

June 5 - While pro-Castro singer Silvio Rodríguez was performing at Carnegie Hall in New York on Friday night, Cuban artist Geandy Pavón projected a three-story high image onto the Carnegie Hall facade of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, an imprisoned hunger striker who died in Cuba in February while demanding better prison conditions.

Pavón has also projected the same image on the facade of Cuba's diplomatic buildings in New York and Europe.

During the concert, Rodríguez dedicated one of his songs to the 5 Cuban spies who are currently serving jail in the United States, but didn't say a word about the hundreds of prisoners of conscience languishing in the prisons of the regime that he supports and that has made him a millionaire.

Outside, there were protesters asking Silvio why he was not like his son, in reference to Silvito "el Libre," who lives in Cuba and doesn't support the brutal regime of the Castro brothers. The whole story at  the realcubablog

A group of thugs is sent to harass the Sigler Amaya home, but is turned away by this courageous family

June 3 - A mob organized by the Cuban regime shows up at the home of the Sigler Amaya family in Matanzas, upset because they have hanged several signs protesting the murder of Orlando Zapata Tamayo and asking for the release of all prisoners of conscience, including two members of the Sigler Amaya family, Ariel and Guido who are languishing in Castro's Gulag.

Ariel is in a very poor health, but the Castro dictatorship refuses to set him free.

When the mob showed up at the Sigler Amaya home, they are told that they cannot come in. You can hear people in the house yelling at the pro-Castro mob: "Assassins"; "Cowards", "Abajo Fidel", "Abajo Raúl".

The thugs go away, but they return later telling the family that they will have to take down the signs or they will go in and take them down themselves.

A man inside the house carrying a stick tells them: "If you come inside the house I'll break this on top of your head."

The thugs chicken out and stay outside. You can hear more yelling:  "Death to Fidel", "Death to Raúl".

Finally, the thugs left and the signs remained!

Part I

Part II

Castro's "diplomatic" bitch in Oslo, Norway, bites the hand of a woman filming a protest

Cuba's consul in Oslo, Norway, bites the hand of a young woman filming a  protest against the Cuban regime.

The same dogs who abuse dissidents in Cuba, representing the fascist regime as "diplomats."

"Yo no me voy" (I'm not leaving)

A video song about the dissidents in Cuba, by Gustavo Rex

"Free education"? Another myth bites the dust

May 12 - The Cuban regime, and its foreigner apologists, are always saying that two of the greatest "advances" of the robolution are free health and free education.

We have already learned, that the only one who receive good medical care in Castro's Cuba are the foreigners who pay with hard currency.

The poor Cubans who don't have access to hard currency are forced to go to filthy and ill equipped hospitals, many of them without running water and where the patients have to bring their own bed sheets, towels and pillows, or lay on bare and soiled mattresses.

And as this video shows, the education is also a myth created by the Cuban regime and parroted all over the world by useful idiots who are ignorant of the truth.

In this video, recorded in Cuba, teachers are not even aware of where Cuban patriot Antonio Maceo was born. Several teachers are asked: How many World Wars have there been? And the majority of them do not know. A woman answers that there were 2 World Wars, the 10 Year War and the War of Independence, that were the 2 wars that Cubans fought against Spain to gain their independence.

One said that the Berlin War was in Russia!

In geography they don't fare much better, and you can tell that the only thing that they have learned is the Cuban government propaganda against the US. When asked if they agree with the wall that the United States built on its border with AUSTRALIA!!, they say that's a disgrace and begin to attack the United States for building such a wall to keep Australian citizens from coming in. Pathetic!

The worst sugar harvest in 105 years!

May 5 - The current sugar harvest in Cuba is the worst since 1905, according to an article Wednesday in Granma, Cuba's official newspaper.

According to Granma, the very poor results were caused by "terrible production and efficiency," and it will also have a negative impact in next year's harvest.  realcubablog

Photos taken by a Venezuelan who visited Havana last February

April 26 - The destruction continues and Venezuelans are concerned that their country will soon look like Cuba Noticiero Digital

Campaign to identify those who abuse the Ladies in White and other Cuban dissidents

April 24 - Four Cuban American lawyers and a Miami-based television station have launched a campaign to identify and publicly name Cuban state security agents and pro-government militants who attack dissidents on the island.
Called "Cuba, Repression ID," the project that began this week solicits public support from the Cuban exile community in the United States and also from people inside Cuba to identify, through photographs and film footage, individuals seen beating or harassing unarmed critics of Cuba's communist government.

In recent weeks, TV footage of Cuban state security agents and mobs of pro-government supporters heckling, harassing and forcibly breaking up dissident rallies and marches has drawn widespread international criticism of Cuba's rulers and renewed calls for them to free political prisoners on the island. The promoters of the "Repression ID" initiative backed by Spanish-language Channel 41 AmericaTeve say they want to name and shame identified persecutors of Cuban dissidents, both as a historical record, for possible future legal action, and as a way of trying to halt such violence and intimidation.

"Here are the images, the faces of repression," reads the advisory on AmericaTeve's website, above a gallery of 28 photographs of men and women who were captured on film breaking up peaceful rallies by Cuba's Ladies in White dissidents. Members of the public are requested to e-mail or call in the identities of those shown.

"Who are they? What are their names? Where do they work? Where do they live?" the website asks. The Washington Post

Video of Sunday, April 16 confrontation between the Ladies in White and Cuba's state security agents

April 23 - As we reported earlier, the Castro regime is now requesting that the Ladies in White ask for a permit, if they plan to take their weekly walk after attending Mass at Santa Rita Church in Havana.

In this video, a state security agent tells the women that they cannot march because they don't have a permit. After that, he made a signal with his hand and immediately a mob. that had been previously assembled by government agents, surrounded the women.

The Ladies in White refused to move, even though they were surrounded by the mob.

After more than 2 hours, the state security agents brought a bus that took the ladies away.

A state security thug warning the Ladies in White

April 21 - This video was taken without the knowledge of this agent of Cuba's state security, who was warning the Ladies in White that the government was going to retire its "protection" against "spontaneous demonstrations by Cuban citizens" if they insisted in continuing marching.

When one of the Ladies in White tells this thug that they do not need protection, that what they need is for Cuba's state security to stop organizing and sending mobs to insult and beat them, the state security agent doesn't know what to say.

According to sources inside Cuba, this is the last maneuver by Cuba's fascist regime against the Ladies in White.

They will now claim that there is no way for them to stop "enraged citizens" from attacking them.

 Comment

You don't kow Che" A  Musical Video by Steve Pichan

A message from the author of You Don't Know Che: "This is a musical challenge to celebrities and others that proudly wear the image of Che on their clothing, jewelry, etc. The music was inspired by documentaries that I viewed which exposed the horrific truth about Che Guevara."

This video was produced by Agustín Blásquez, AB Independent Productions.

 Eyewitness report about life in Cuba today (UPDATED)

April 8 - We have posted more photos of life in Cuba today, including this menu of a cafeteria in Havana where you can buy a cold hot dog for 10 pesos and a condom for 1 peso!

April 7 - Read how Cubans have to carry the coffins of their deceased relatives, to prevent the bottom from falling off.

April 6 - Read and see what a family found when they went to visit a sick relative in Cuba last month.

Click here

Dr. Darsi Ferrer honored with the State Department Freedom Defenders Award, Honorable Mention

March 24 - During yesterday's State Department Daily Press Briefing, Assistant Secretary Philip J. Crowley announced that Cuban prisoner of conscience Dr. Darsi Ferrer, has received the State Department Freedom Defenders Award, Honorable Mention.

Here is what Mr. Crowley said in the press briefing:

"Dr. Darsi Ferrer received the 2009 State Department Freedom Defenders Award, Honorable Mention.

This award recognized Dr. Ferrer’s work and bravery in the defense of human rights in Cuba. He was the only Honorable Mention recipient in the Western Hemisphere.

Dr. Ferrer has been imprisoned without charge in a Cuban jail since July 2009. Yesterday, Assistant Secretary Mike Posner had the opportunity to conduct a video teleconference with Dr. Ferrer’s wife, Mrs. Yusnaymi Jorge Soca, and the rest of Dr. Ferrer’s family to talk about his case. And at the same time, he had the opportunity to speak directly with members of the Damas de Blanco group that has been conducting peaceful protests within Cuba, seeking expanded human rights and freedom of expression."

Popular protests during the funeral of Cuban patriot Gloria Amaya González

This video was taken during the funeral of Gloria Amaya González, the mother of Cuban prisoners of conscience Ariel and Guido Sigler.

Her sons were allowed to attend the funeral for a few hours.

Ariel Sigler is very ill and is currently so weak that he had to be transported in an ambulance and had to use a wheel chair because he cannot walk. The Castro brothers still refuse to set him free.

When the two brothers were taken back to jail, you can hear people yelling "Asesinos," "Abajo Fidel," "Abajo la dictadura."

Gloria Amaya fought every day for the freedom of her sons. She died while they were still being jailed by the criminal regime that holds power in Cuba. Click here to see the video
 

Postcard from Las Piedras, Cuba

In “Slums of Havana” Award -winning journalist David Adams takes viewers in a journey through the decaying infrastructure of Havana, and the conditions under which many there are forced to live due to a shortage of adequate living spaces. Reporte Virtual

It was difficult, but they got there

May 20 - Getting the Marti t-shirts to Cuba hasn't been easy.

This weekend they finally reached some of the dissidents who will help distribute them.

Some of the t-shirts were distributed in Havana and others were sent to Cardenas and Holguin.

I want to thank Dr. Darsi Ferrer and the Plantados for the great help they have provided me with this project and I also want to thank all our readers who have contributed to this effort.

We are having more t-shirts printed and I'm looking at different ways of getting them to Cuba.

This photo was taken last weekend when several of the dissidents got together to receive the first t-shirts.

From left to right: Dr. Darsi Ferrer Ramirez, Rafael Leyva Leyva, Carol Susent Cruz and Pedro Moises Calderin.

Rafael and Carol live in Holguin and took several of the t-shirts to be distributed there.

We want to thank the following readers who have contributed to our campaign:

Ruth E. Cooke - Diego Trinidad III - Daisy Varela - Miguel Beltra - Marco Polo - R. Duval - Dona Flores - Henry Agueros - Christopher Glick - Elena Borkland -

Odalys Fabregas - Fernando Dominicis - Zivainla Sahl - Alfredo Zayas - Andy Grubbs - R. Campanioni - Ana J. Martinez - Liliana Quincoses - Pete Guevara - Constantino Peña - Angel Valdes - José A. González-Posada - Francisco A. Gómez

If you want to help with the t-shirts and postcards projects, please send a donation:

You can also send a check to: The Real Cuba - P.O. BOX 835308 - Miami, FL 33283-5308

Click here to learn more about our projects for 2009

Racism in Castro's Cuba

This documentary about racism in Castro's Cuba was aired Sunday, April 26, on Channel 41 in Miami.