Mexican authorities rescue 6 Cuban rafters who
were being held for ransom in Cancún
Sept. 2 - Mexican authorities have rescued six undocumented
Cuban migrants who had been held for ransom for a month in Cancun, a vacation
hotspot on the nation's Yucatan Peninsula, the state-run Notimex news agency
reported Wednesday.
The abductors, who were not apprehended in Tuesday night's
rescue, were seeking between $8,000 and $10,000 from relatives in Florida for
each of the five men and one woman they had been holding in a series of safe
houses, Notimex said.
The Cubans said they arrived in Cancun on a raft and were
picked up from the streets of Cancun by men in a pickup truck, the news service
said. Read more at the
realcubablog
Court Upholds Florida Law That Put Sharp Limits
on Academic Travel to Cuba
Sept. 2 - A federal appeals court has upheld a Florida law
that restricts students, faculty members, and researchers at the state's public
colleges and universities from traveling to Cuba and four other countries that
the U.S. government considers terrorist states.
In a ruling issued on Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit said Florida could determine how to
spend its own funds for education. "A state traditionally has had great control
over its spending, especially for education: a local responsibility," the judges
wrote. Read more at the
realcubablog
A Statement and a Video Released by the Human
Rights Foundation
Sept. 1 - In order to provide an accurate backdrop with
regard to the announcement of the Cuban government’s release and forced exile of
52 political prisoners, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) releases an exclusive
video documentary short of the “Ladies in White,” a civil society group inside
Cuba that organizes peaceful Sunday marches for freedom and human rights.
The world-renowned group is formed by the wives, mothers,
sisters, daughters, and supporters of political prisoners who were arrested
during the “Black Spring” government crackdown on Cuban dissidents. During the
four-day period that occurred in March 2003, 75 independent journalists,
librarians, and democracy and human rights advocates were arrested and
ultimately convicted with sentences ranging from 6 to 28 years.
Currently, 26 of the prisoners have been released and exiled
to Spain, while another prisoner was released to the United States for medical
treatment. At least five of the prisoners have refused to accept exile, meaning
they choose to remain in prison unless they are granted unconditional release
and allowed to stay in Cuba.
"The release of these innocent individuals is a welcome development and cause
for celebration, but we must remember that the mechanism of repression remains
firmly entrenched in Cuba. None of these arrests should ever have been made in
the first place,” said Thor Halvorssen, president of HRF. “It should be made
clear that their release does not indicate a reversal of conviction or pardon.
These men are still considered treacherous criminals by the Cuban government. If
they are allowed to stay in Cuba it shall be with the specter of certain and
continuous political persecution and harassment,” he continued.
Is this the first step for a "ration card" in
Venezuela?
Aug. 31 - Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez said on
Tuesday that his government will announce a new ID card that citizens
will have to use in order to buy products at government run stores and
supermarkets.
Chávez
said this will be a new ID card, different from the one that all
Venezuelan citizens now carry.
Hugo
called it the "Good Living Card," but many Venezuelan fear that it is
just the first step to put in place a "libreta de racionamiento" or
ration card, like the one the Castro brothers put in place in Cuba and
have used for 51 years as another tool to control the population.
Chávez
said that the new card is not to "promote consumerism, but to buy just
what is needed."
Chávez
didn't offer any more information about the card or the date when it
will be available.
Noticias24 (Spanish)
Yoani Sánchez: Inside the Neighborhood,
Outside the Heart
Aug. 31 - “You must turn in your passport!” So they
told him on arriving in Caracas, to prevent him from making it to the
border and deserting. In the same airport they read him the rules: “You
cannot say that you are Cuban, you can’t walk down the street in your
medical clothes, and it’s best to avoid interacting with Venezuelans.”
Days later he understood that his mission was a political one, because
more than curing some heart problem or lung infection, he was supposed
to examine consciences, probe voting intentions.
Franklin Brito, a Venezuelan farmer who was
on a hunger strike protest died on Monday night UPDATED)
Aug. 31 - Translation of the statement by the family
of Franklin Brito: "This does not mean, however, that Franklin Brito
has died. Franklin lives in the struggle of the Venezuelan people for
the right to property, access to justice, for life in freedom and
respect by governments of all collective and individual human rights.
Franklin Brito has now become a symbol and a flag for all who are
suffering the arrogance of power, for those who are offended by the
arrogance of the rulers, for those who believe that truth and justice
are always above circumstances and conveniences ." Read more at the
realcubablog
Aug. 30 -
Franklin Brito, a farmer from the state of Bolívar in southeastern
Venezuela who had been on a hunger strike protesting because the
Chavez's government stole his land without compensation, died on Monday
night at Caracas Military Hospital where he had been held against his
will since last December.
The death
of Brito, whose case had become a cause celebre for opposition parties
and rights groups in Venezuela, has come at a sensitive time with
political passions rising ahead of a Sept. 26 vote for Venezuela's
parliament.
The news was confirmed by Brito's wife and son. Read more at the
realcubablog
Castro's Gulag revolving door: Eight more
dissidents arrested
Aug. 30 -
While everyone is talking about the 26 dissidents who have been released
from the Castro brothers' Gulag and forced to travel to Spain, another 8
dissidents have been arrested to fill the vacated space.
Three of
the newly detained dissidents were being held in Havana, and five others
in Guantánamo, in eastern Cuba.
Opposition leaders said the detainees in the Cuban capital were Luis
Labrador, Eduardo Perez and Michel Rodriguez, all of whom were arrested
on August 16 during a protest at the University of Havana. Read more at
the
realcubablog
Humberto
Fontova: Engagement with Castro has clearly failed -- time to try an
embargo
Aug. 29 -
"Gosh, maybe if we were only nice to Castro," goes the liberal mantra on
Cuba.
In fact,
the U.S. elite's fetish for "engagement" with Fidel Castro began before
he was even in "office."
"Me and my
staff were all Fidelistas." (Robert Reynolds, the CIA's "Caribbean
Desk's specialist on the Cuban Revolution" from 1957-1960.)
"Everyone in the CIA and everyone at State was pro-Castro, except
[Republican] ambassador Earl Smith." (CIA operative in Santiago Cuba,
Robert Weicha.) Read more at the
realcubablog
"Zapata Vive" The Documentary
Aug. 29 -
On Saturday night, I attended the presentation of "Zapata Vive," a
documentary by El Instituto de la Memoria Histórica Cubana Contra el
Totalitarismo y Plantados Hasta la Libertad y la Democracia en Cuba.
The
documentary, directed by Wenceslao Cruz, produced by Pedro Corzo and
with original music by Miguel Ulíses, was shown at Belen Jesuit School's
Teatro Roca.
Minutes
before the documentary was scheduled to begin, everyone stood up and
applauded for several minutes at the arrival of former Cuban prisoner of
conscience Ariel Sigler Amaya, in a wheel chair being pushed by his
brother Miguel Siegler.
It was a
very emotional moment.
(Photo
courtesy of Jesus Angulo)
The
documentary provides a lot of information about Orlando Zapata Tamayo,
from the time when he was a young man trying to become a boxer and later
when he became very active in Cuba's opposition.
There are
interviews with Zapata's mother, Reina Luisa Tamayo; with several Cuban
dissidents including Marta Beatriz Roque, Jorge Luis García Pérez 'Antunez,'
and several former political prisoners who were in Castro's Gulag at the
same time that Zapata Tamayo was there.
In the
interviews, made in Cuba by independent journalists exclusively for this
documentary, the former political prisoners tell how Zapata was always
on the front lines during all demonstrations against the regime.
They also
told how Zapata kept yelling "Abajo Fidel" and "Vivan los Derechos
Humanos" even while he was in prison, and how Cuban guards beat him on
several occasions as a result of this.
Zapata's
mother told her interviewers how important it is for people in and
outside Cuba to see this documentary and know who her son really was and
not to believe the lies that the Cuban dictatorship has said about him.
There are
also videos and pictures of the house where Zapata was born in Santiago
de Cuba, his family home in Banes and videos of several places where he
met with Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet, who was jailed at the same time he was,
and with several other dissidents.
The
documentary also provides information about 13 other Cuban political
prisoners who have died in hunger strikes in Castro's jails, including
Pedro Luis Boitel.
If you are
interested in acquiring this documentary, we have it available at
The Real
Cuba Store (At the present time, it is only available in Spanish)
The senile in chief: Osama bin Laden is a US agent
Aug. 27 -
It seems that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's ostomy pouching system, best
known as a colostomy bag, suffered a malfunction today and
everything that was contained on it went directly to what's left of his
brain.
The
malfunction of the dictator's ostomy pouching system was probably what
caused Castro to say that Osama bin Laden was a US agent.
"Any time
Bush would stir up fear and make a big speech, bin Laden would appear
threatening people with a story about what he was going to do," Castro
told state media during a meeting with a Lithuanian-born writer known
for advancing conspiracy theories about world domination. "Bush never
lacked for bin Laden's support. He was a subordinate."
Castro
said documents posted on WikiLeaks.org — a website that recently
released thousands of pages of classified documents from the Afghan war
— "effectively proved he was a CIA agent."
According
to the AP story, Castro "did not elaborate."
How could
he elaborate when his brain was full of 'caca,' instead of only half
full as it normally is?
Ariel Sigler Amaya was a guest last night on "A Mano Limpia" on Channel
41, Miami
Aug. 27 -
Former Cuban prisoner of conscience Ariel Sigler Amaya, appeared last
night in A Mano Limpia on Channel 41 in Miami, only hours after being
discharged from Jackson Memorial Hospital.
When asked
if he was in favor of the negotiations between Cuba's Cardinal Jaime
Ortega and the Castro regime, he said "absolutely not."
He also
said that Ortega had called his brother Guido, who is still in jail, to
tell him that he would be freed if he was willing to accept exile in
Spain. Guido's rejected Ortega's proposal, telling him that he was not
going anywhere and if that was the condition for his release, he was
willing to stay in jail.
A doctor,
who treated Sigler since he arrived from Cuba and also appeared in the
program, said that doctors are optimistic about Ariel's chances to be
able to walk again, but that it would take at least 4 months of daily
therapy before they can know for sure.
During
last night's program Ariel remained confined to a wheel chair, as a
result of the malnutrition and lack of medical care he suffered in
Castro's Gulag.
A small bomb exploded in front of the building where Cuban doctors live
in Caracas
Aug. 27 -
Venezuela's news channel, Globovisión, is reporting that a "small
explosive device" exploded outside the residence of Cuban doctors in
Chacao, a suburb of Caracas, the Venezuelan capital.
No
injuries and only minor damages was reported.
The
explosion occurred around 12.02 am on Friday at 1st First Avenue de
Campo Alegre, near the Baden Powell Plaza.
According
to the Globovisión report, Chacao Police and effectives of the
Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebina) were in the place conducting an
investigation.
Mailbox: Reader from Germany wants to know why "we hate Cuba and
Venezuela"
Aug. 26 -
I got an-email from a German reader asking me why I "hate" Cuba and
Venezuela and why I don't write about Colombia.
Aug. 26 -
What the fall from grace of Fidel Castro’s Chilean business crony says
about Cuba’s uncertain economic times.
MAX
MARAMBIO, a Chilean businessman, can claim an unusual consequence of his
friendship with Fidel Castro. It made him rich. A guerrilla in the 1960s
and then a bodyguard of Chile’s socialist president, Salvador Allende,
Mr Marambio set up one of the earliest business joint-ventures with
Cuba’s Communist regime. For the past two decades this company, Rio Zaza,
enjoyed a near-monopoly on sales of packaged fruit juice and milk across
the island. Mr Marambio, dubbed in Cuba “the potbelly” because of his
portly figure, became a multimillionaire.
That
apparently did not offend Fidel Castro. Neighbors at the businessman’s
grand 1950s home on the outskirts of Havana recall that the Cuban leader
was a frequent evening guest (the home itself is believed to have been a
gift from Castro). But now the house lies empty, its rolling lawns
unkempt. Marambio is a wanted man. Cuba’s government, led now by Fidel’s
brother Raúl, ordered him to return to the island by August 23rd for
questioning about bribery and fraud at Rio Zaza. Mr Marambio, who denies
all the allegations, declined the invitation.
Danny Glover asks for the release of "political prisoners," but not the
real ones
Aug. 25 -
It is hard to tell if Danny Glover is the typical useful idiot, if he is
a masochist-racist who likes to see a white slave trader exploiting,
jailing and torturing millions of Cubans, the majority of them Black, or
if he is being blackmailed by the blackmailer in chief with compromising
videos taken during his many visits to Cuba.
With
prisoners of conscience like Oscar Elías Biscet languishing in Castro's
jails, without having had the opportunity to a free trial and for the
only crime of wanting to live in freedom, Danny Glover made this video
to ask President Obama to free the five spies that were sent here by
Castro and who were convicted on an American court, and who have had
access to high-paid lawyers who have appealed their sentences in higher
courts in more than one occasion.
According
to Danny Glover, the spies came here to fight "terrorism."
For this
miserable piece of cow manure, the Cubans who had to leave the island
fleeing his fascist idol, are all terrorists.
Video of Reina Luisa Tamayo visiting the grave of her son last Sunday
Aug. 24 -
As we reported earlier, Reina Luisa Tamayo, the mother of Cuban martyr
Orlando Zapata Tamayo, was finally able to visit her son's grave last
Sunday.
Cuban
guards and mobs controlled by Cuba's state security, had surrounded
Reina Luisa's home for several weeks, preventing her from attending Mass
and going to the cemetery where her son is buried.
Here is a
video by Channel 41, America TeVe in Miami, of last Sunday's walk by
Reina Luisa and a group of friends.
The NYT confirms what we told you 2 weeks ago: Venezuela is more
dangerous than Irak
Aug. 24 -
On August 14 we said that you run a higher risk of being shot in
Venezuela, than a soldier who is fighting in Irak.
Now the
New York Times has published an article that confirms what we said.
The title:
""Venezuela, More Deadly Than Iraq, Wonders Why"
The paper
reports that in Caracas, the venezuelan capital, two people are murdered
every hour, a homicide rate that has tripled since Hugo Chávez was
elected in 1998 and that about 90 percent of killings in Venezuela go
unresolved.
Dissidents tell the Pope: "Stop supporting Satan's commissioners on
earth" (UPDATED)
Aug. 21 -
More on the letter sent to Pope Benedict XVI and signed by 165
dissidents in Cuba.
"We are
not in accord with the stance taken by the Cuban ecclesiastical
hierarchy in its intervention over the political prisoners. It is
lamentable and, in fact, embarrassing," the dissidents' letter said.
"However,
the solution of exile, accepted by those who have been unjustly
imprisoned for seven years only for their ideas, benefits
only the dictatorship," it continued.
The
letter, delivered to the Papal Nuncio's office in Havana, asked the
Cuban prelates to "cease their political support" for the regime of the
Castro brothers, whom it described as "Satan's commissioners on
earth."
Read more at the
realcubablog
Aug. 20 -
Roman Catholic officials said Friday they had a humanitarian obligation
to broker a landmark deal in which Cuba promised to free 52 political
prisoners — answering island opposition activists who complained of
being left out of negotiations.
Those
sentiments came in response to a letter to Pope Benedict XVI from 165
top Cuban political activists, community organizers and dissidents that
has circulated in Spain but not on the island. The letter said that
while the dissident community supports the result of the July 7 deal
between the Church and Cuba, both sides ignored the needs of the
country's political opposition in reaching it.
In their
letter to the pope, the dissidents wrote, "a correct mediation on this
topic should have included hearing the complaints of both sides and
reconciling them."
"We do not
agree with the position taken by the Cuban religious hierarchy on behalf
of political prisoners," it added. "It is lamentable and even
embarrassing."
Satellite
photos of Cuba's prisons, missile installations, military bases and
more
Cuba's
Cash-for-Doctors Program, by María Werlau - Wall Street Journal
Aug. 16 - For decades, Cuba
has "exported" doctors, nurses and health technicians to earn diplomatic
influence in poor countries and hard cash for its floundering economy.
According to Cuba's official media, an estimated 38,544 Cuban health
professionals were serving abroad in 2008, 17,697 of them doctors. (Cuba
reports having 70,000 doctors in all.)
These "missionaries of the
revolution" are well-received in host countries from Algeria to South
Africa to Venezuela. Yet those who hail Cuba's generosity overlook the
uglier aspects of Cuba's health diplomacy.
The regime stands accused of
violating various international agreements such as the Trafficking in
Persons Protocol and ILO Convention on the Protection of Wages because
of the way these health-care providers are treated. In February, for
example, seven Cuban doctors who formerly served in Venezuela and later
defected filed a lawsuit in Florida federal court against Cuba,
Venezuela and the Venezuelan state oil company for holding them in
conditions akin to "modern slavery." Read more at the
realcubablog
A look at
Havana before the Castro brothers destroyed it
Mexican
government slams Castro's intromission in Mexico's internal affairs
Aug. 15 - The Mexican
government dismissed recent allegations by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro
as an attempt to “discredit Mexican institutions” and said it hopes
citizens on the communist-ruled island will be able to participate in
free elections in the near future.
In two articles by Castro
that were published on Thursday and Friday in the Cuban media, the
dictator praised erstwhile Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel
Lopez Obrador, a leftist, and recalled a 2004 political scandal that, he
said, was aimed at derailing his bid to win the presidency two years
later. Read more at the
realcubablog
Chávez's
Venezuela has become one of the most violent countries in the world
Aug. 14 - You run a higher
risk of being shot in Venezuela, than a soldier who is fighting in
the Irak or Afghanistan wars.
On Friday, Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional published this photo taken
at the Caracas morgue.
According to the paper, during the first 6 months of this year this
morgue received 2,177 bodies of people who were murdered, of which 72%
were young men between 15 and 29 years of age.
That's 362 per month, 12 per
day, 1 every 2 hours. And that's only in Caracas!
Last year, the Justice
Ministry released figures showing there were 12,257 homicides nationwide
in the first 11 months of 2009 and all indications are that this year's
figure will be much higher.
And if more proof was needed of the uncontrollable violence in Venezuela
under Chávez, a baseball player from Hong Kong was shot on the leg on
Friday night, while participating at the women world's baseball
championship in the Venezuelan capital.
Aug. 11 - There is a new book
out about Cuban sugar magnate Julio Lobo.
The book tells how che
Guevara wanted Lobo to run Cuba's newly nationalized sugar industry at
the beginning of the "robolution.".
But Lobo's response to
Guevara was: "I'm a capitalist and you're a communist. And I've been a
capitalist all my life."
A few days later, he left
Cuba for exile.
According to Cuban writer
Carlos Alberto Montaner "This magnificently written book is much more
than an account of the life of a singular personage: it is a fascinating
portrait of an era by now unknown even to the Cubans themselves. Whoever
wishes to know what the island was like before the revolution must read
this work."
Dr. Darsi
Ferer answers another question from one of our readers
Aug. 9 - 2010 - What do
democrats in Cuba expect of the Cuban exiles in Miami or other places
like Spain?
Saturday's
spectacle at the "national assembly of performing seals"
Aug. 8 - The show which took
place at Saturday's session of Cuba's national assembly of performing
seals, would be comical if it were not so tragic.
The octogenarian coma-andante
entered the meeting room and immediately the performing seals stood up
and began clapping during the 10 minutes that took the Cuban dictator to
walk to his seat, holding the hand of one of his bodyguards.
When he began to talk, he
reminded me of a comedian who was very popular in Cuba before Castro,
called "El viejito Chichí. "
He was an old man who had
problems with his dentures and always pronounced the letter "c" as "ch,"
hence his name "Chichí."
And when Castrro began to say
"el prechidente Obama va a cher responchable por dechatar una guerra
chuchia contra Iran..." I could close my eyes and see el viejito Chichí
resurrected. Read more at the
realcubablog
Dr. Darsi
ferrer has answered the questions from two other readers
Aug. 6 - Dr. Darsi Ferrer has
answered the questions from two other readers of therealcuba.com
I have posted his answers in
Spanish and will translate it into English during the weekend.
Dr. Darsi
Ferrer answers questions from our readers
Aug. 5 - This morning I
received the first message from Dr. Darsi Ferrer answering questions
posed by our readers.
This is a translation of his
message:
"Dear Jorge:
This is my answer to the questions from your readers, I hope it can
satisfy their concerns.
I reiterate my desire to maintain an exchange of ideas with all those
wanting to know our opinions.
Un abrazo and may God bless you, Darsi"
The first question was: Does
the gradual release of all political prisoners mean a real change in the
events in Cuba?
Will the government free those prisoners who refuse to leave the
country, as in the case of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet?
Read Darsi's response at the
realcubablog en inglés y también en español
Dr. Darsi
Ferrer will answer questions from our readers
Aug. 4 - I am sure that many
of you would like to ask questions directly to dissidents in Cuba.
Well, now it's your chance.
Dr. Darsi Ferrer, one of
Cuba's best known dissidents, who was recently released from prison,
will be taking questions from our readers.
Dr. Ferrer will answer back
and I'll post his responses in both English and Spanish.
Please make them short! His
Internet time is very limited.
I'll be sending the questions
to him as I receive them, and he will be answering them as his time
permit.
Si puede, haga su pregunta
en español y nos evita tener que traducirla.
Mobs
organized by Cuba's state security, surround the home of the mother of
Orlando Zapata Tamayo
Aug. 4 - Mobs organized,
transported and controlled by Cuba's state security, surrounded the home
of Reina Luisa Tamayo, the mother of Cuban martyr Orlando Zapata Tamayo,
who died last February after 85 days in a hunger strike to protest the
conditions in Castro's Gulag.
The mobs prevented Reina
Luisa and 3 other women from attending church on Sunday and from
visiting Orlando Zapata's grave at a nearby cemetery.
Reina Luisa lives in Banes, a
small town in the eastern part of the country, where there is no
coverage by the international press, which in turn allows the Cuban
regime to act with impunity against the unarmed dissidents, like it
happened to these 4 women.
Two of
Castro's Strongest Supporters in the US Congress, Are Facing Ethics
Trials
Aug. 2 - Maxine Waters and
Charles Rangel, two of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro strongest supporters
in the US Congress, are facing ethics trial.
On Monday afternoon, a House
ethics panel charged Waters with breaking unspecified ethics rules.
Waters has been under
investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics for requesting a
meeting in 2008 with then Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to discuss
minority-owned banks. The conversation focused on a single bank,
OneUnited. Waters' husband had been a board member and stock holder in
the bank at the time of the meeting.
Last week, a House
investigative panel formally charged Rangel, D-N.Y., with 13 ethics
violations stemming from donations he solicited for an education center
bearing his name and his failure to pay taxes. Read the entire article
at the
realcubablog
Spanish TV
report about Darsi Ferrer's trial and his release from prison
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.
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?
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."
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!
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.
Videos page with
many new and old videos, including the latest attacks against the Ladies
in White
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
Please
check to see if someone is looking for you, or if you can help any of
those who are looking for friends or relatives
Socio-Economic Conditions in Pre-Castro
Cuba
Dec. 17 - Cuba Facts is an ongoing series of succinct
fact sheets on various topics, including, but not limited to, political
structure, health, economy, education, nutrition, labor, business,
foreign investment, and demographics, published and updated on a regular
basis by the Cuba Transition Project staff at the University of Miami.
Click here to learn the truth about Cuba's Health, Education,
Personal Consumption and much more in pre-Castro Cuba.
Video of
Castro's police beating a Cuban man near the University of Havana
More photos showing how the Castro brothers
have destroyed one of the world's most beautiful cities
