Oswaldo Payá, Rest in Freedom
Oswaldo Payá (1952 - 2012)
No one should die before reaching their dreams of freedom. With the death of Oswaldo Payá (1952 - 2012), Cuba has suffered a dramatic loss for its present and an irreplaceable loss for its future. It was not just an exemplary man, a loving father and a fervent Catholic who stop breathing yesterday, Sunday, but also an irreplaceable citizen for our nation. His tenacity shone forth since I was a teenager, when he chose not to hide the scapulars — as so many others did — and instead publicly acknowledged his faith. In 1988 his civic responsibility was forged in the founding of the Christian Liberation Movement, and years later in the initiative known as the Varela Project.
I remember — as if it were yesterday — the image of Payá outside the National Assembly of People’s Power on that March 10, 2002. The boxes filled with over 10,000 signatures in his arms, while he delivered them to the infamous Cuban parliament. The official answer would be a legal reform, a pathetic “constitutional mummification” that would tie us “irrevocably” to the current system. But the dissident of a thousand and one battles was not dissuaded and two years later he and another group of activists presented 14,000 more signatures. With them they demanded that a referendum be called to allow freedom of association, expression, and the press, economic guarantees, and an amnesty that would free the political prisoners. With the disproportion that characterized it, Fidel Castro’s government answered with the imprisonments of the Black Spring of 2003. Over 40 members of the Christian Liberation Movement were sentenced in that fateful March.
Although he was not arrested at that time, for years Payá suffered the constant surveillance of his home, arbitrary arrests, repudiation rallies and threats. He ever missed a chance to denounce the prison conditions of some dissident, or another wrongful conviction. I never saw him break down, or yell, or insult his political opponents. The great lesson he left us is his equanimity, pacifism, putting ethics above differences, the conviction that through civic action and through legal action, an inclusive Cuba is closer to us. Rest in peace, or better still, rest released.
23 July 2012
Agosto 15th, 2012 at 16:42
[...] Oswaldo Payá, a key leader of the Cuban democratic opposition, Cuba has suffered what the writer Yoani Sanchez called “a dramatic loss for its present and an irreplaceable loss for its future.” The [...]
Julio 29th, 2012 at 08:06
Shut up Damir. Get a life. You haven’t got one.
Julio 28th, 2012 at 22:23
And here’s a very interesting and an eye-opening evelation, made by Germans by the way, about the true PATH of “democracy” and “some kind of pragmatic capitalism”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related
THAT is what these traitors and terrorists disguisnig themselves in a, appropriately if you ask me, sheep’s skin and pretending to be moral and righteous while lying through their eyes about their white “gods” TRUE INTENTIONS!!!!!
Julio 28th, 2012 at 22:04
hERE’S WHY YOU ARE ALL JUST A BUNCH OF LIARS AND CRIMINAL TERRORISTS:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worl.....a-18990351
BBB CITES
DIPLOMATIC SOURCES
WHO HAVE CONFIRMED THAT THE ACCIDENT IS JUST THAT: A GENUINE ACCIDENT. AND THAT ANYONE SAYING DIFFERENTLY IS A MO**N.
Like the son of the killed man, who claims that a
T R U C K
NO LESS
RAMMED THE CAR REPEATEDLY!!!!!!!
What a MO ** N.
A truck
CANNOT even gather the speed to run as fast as a passenger’s car. And even if it could, it would be so much heavier that it COULD NOT MANEUVRE in such a way to cause the accident.
Pnly a st**d “dissident” - read a traitor and a terrorist, could ocme up with such a blatant and VERY ST**D lie.
Julio 28th, 2012 at 21:57
I am still laughing at the copy and paste geniuses who are unable to see their own stu***y …
Is that indeed the tree that is hiding the forest behind it liars and terrorists!!!!!???
You can’t even see the tree because your own delusions and lies are blocking the view!!!!
Laughable useles id**ts…
Lemme sho you the tree. In a number of posts the team “yoani” claim that Cubans CANNOT TRAVEL AROUND CUBA WITHOUT THE PERMIT.
The killed in accident and his cronnies were TRAVELLING 800 KMS, and in less than 8 hours, by the way.
if the guy was really a DISSIDENT SORT OF GUY, AGAIN ACCORDING TO THE POSTS PUT UP BY THE VERY ST***D AND INEPT TEAM “yoani”, and their pin-up granny, THE GUY WOULD NOT HAVE RECEIVED THE PERMIT!!!!
The guy not only D I D HAVE THE PERMIT, HE WAS ALSO IN COMPANY OF HIS SPANISH CONTACT, WHO WAS THE DRIVER TOO.
REMEMBER HOW YOU ALL WROTE SOOOOOOOOOOOO MANY TIMES HOW CUBANS ARE PROHIBITED FROM CONTACTING FOREIGNERS!!!!!??????
BUNCH OF LIARS AND TERRORISTS.
THE DRIVER HIMSELF HAD ADMITTED DRIVNIG FAST. NO CUBAN POLICE OR SECRET SERVICES GUIDED HIS HAND AND FOOT.
BUT YOU JUST HAVE TO BULLSHIFT ABOUT A N Y T I H N G AS LONG AS IT SERVES YOUR PURPOSE: CRIMINAL ACTS AGAINST A FOREIGN COUNTRY THAT YOU DO NOT BELONG TO AND HAVE GOT F**K ALL TO DO WITH, RIGHT!!!!??????
Julio 27th, 2012 at 17:26
THE CUBADEBATE PAGE HAS RELEASE AN “ANALYSIS” AND STATEMENT OF THE OSWALDO PAYA “ACCIDENT” BUT SO FAR ONLY IN SPANISH! OF COURSE THEY ARE BLAMING THE SPANISH DRIVER Ángel Carromero !! THE LINK IS BELOW! I HOPE THE CASTROFASCISTS ARE READY FOR THE WORLD TO SEE THEIR VERSION OF EVENTS AND THE PHOTOS OF THE “ACCIDENT” SO IT CAN BE ANALYZED AND DISCUSSED BY EVERYONE!WILL TRY TO FIND THE LINKS TO THE PHOTO FOR THEY “FAILED” TO PUT THEM ON THE WEB SITE! AND WHERE IS THE PHOTO OF THAT DAMN TREE?? THE CASTROFASCISTS DONT LIKE NATURE SHOTS I GUESS!!
CUBADEBATE CUBAN DISSIDENT OSWALDO PAYA FATAL ACCIDENT ANALYSIS PAGE (Spanish only)
http://www.cubadebate.cu/notic.....-interior/
Julio 27th, 2012 at 12:00
Humberto, I don’t think it is a Freudian slip. Raul wants to send a message to both Cubans and other leaders of the world. And the message is: if Cubans will rise up as the Arabs did I will kill’em all.
Julio 27th, 2012 at 11:48
GREAT PIECE! FULL OF IRONY AND SARCASM! JUST THE WAY I LIKE THEM!
“Past defectors include Alexei Collado, Odlanier Solis, Joel Casamayor, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Yuriokis Gamboa, Erislandy Lara, and Yan Barthelemy. They leave a history the Fidelista island’s rulers would prefer to forget. For example, heavyweight Solis, flyweight Gamboa, and light flyweight Barthelemy reportedly sold their 2004 Olympic Gold medals to buy food for their families before running off in December 2006 from a training camp in Venezuela.”
BOXER INSIDER: Cuban Olympians — How Many Will Defect and When?
Cuban security thugs will have their hands full trying to prevent Cuban fighters and other Olympic athletes from bolting in London. It always creates additional drama at these global competitions as we try to guess when the first one will take off and how many will follow. You can bet there’s a lot of whispering going on in those hotel corridors.
As Scoop Malinowski pointed out on this site last month, the boxing team is once again rich with talent after faltering a bit in China four years ago. This time they’re loaded with world-beaters from previous global tournaments. But how many of them will still be on the roster when the plane comes home to Havana?
That’s the real question — not how many Gold Medals these formidable chicos and chicas will pick up, but how of them many will return to a land where just finding a sheet of toilet paper is a feat worth recording in your diary. How you gonna keep ‘em down in the wretched deprivation of Communist Cuba after they’ve seen Piccadilly Circus, the iPhone, and all-you-can eat buffets?
Past defectors include Alexei Collado, Odlanier Solis, Joel Casamayor, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Yuriokis Gamboa, Erislandy Lara, and Yan Barthelemy. They leave a history the Fidelista island’s rulers would prefer to forget. For example, heavyweight Solis, flyweight Gamboa, and light flyweight Barthelemy reportedly sold their 2004 Olympic Gold medals to buy food for their families before running off in December 2006 from a training camp in Venezuela.
“Gold medals are wonderful, but athletes can’t eat their gold medals,” explained boxing trainer Roberto Quesada, a Cuban coach who eventually defected to train fighters in Miami. The defections aren’t just limited to boxers. For example, seven soccer players melted into Tampa in 2008 while competing in the Olympic qualifying tournament. It’s a big problem. How do you show off your athletes in international competition when you can’t take them out of the country? Because if you take them off the island, there’s only so much a security team can do to keep them under your control.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.boxinginsider.com/c.....-and-when/
Julio 27th, 2012 at 11:35
THE CASTROFASCISTS ARE CORNERED AND NOW “PLAYING NICE”!! PRESIDENT BARAK OBAMA HAS SEEN WHAT LIARS THEY ARE AND THEY CANNOT BE TRUSTED!
FOX NEWS LATINO: US Tells Cuba to End Authoritarianism, Then We’ll Talk
The U.S. government on Thursday reaffirmed its willingness to “forge a new relationship” with Cuba, but it insisted that the Raul Castro regime must take various measures to clear the way for that to occur including releasing U.S. contractor Alan Gross.
“Our message is very clear to the Castro government: They need to begin to allow for the political freedom of expression that the Cuban people demand, and we are prepared to discuss with them how this can be furthered,” Mike Hammer, assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. State Department, said.
Pointing to the brief detention of dozens of dissidents at this week’s funeral of prominent opposition figure Oswaldo Paya, he said that “the authoritarian tendencies are very evident on each and every day in Cuba.”
Hammer also reiterated the demand the Cuba release Gross, now serving a 15-year sentence for illegally bringing communications gear into the Communist-ruled island as part of a U.S.-funded program.
Hammer made his remarks in response to the proposal made on Thursday by Raul Castro to begin a dialogue with the United States in which all issues would be on the table, including freedom of the press and human rights.
“I have already said this through the existing diplomatic channels. If they want to talk, we will talk,” the Cuban president said at a Revolution Day event in the eastern province of Guantanamo.
He added, however, that Havana will accept only a dialogue of equals, as Cuba is neither a colony nor a satellite.
latino.foxnews.com/2012/07/27/us-conditions-talks-with-cuba-on-end-to-authoritarianism/
Julio 27th, 2012 at 10:57
YOUTUBE: The widow of Oswaldo Paya: “I’m not seeking culpability, I’m seeking the truth” - Ofelia Acevedo, widow of Oswaldo Paya, has denounced that she knows nothing about the accident that killed her husband and “I’m not seeking culpability, I seeking the truth”. She also said that “I can not accept such a simple version of what occurred.” (SPANISH ONLY)
YOUTUBE: La viuda de Oswaldo Payá: “No busco culpables, busco la verdad” - Ofelia Acevedo, viuda de Oswaldo Payá, ha denunciado que no sabe nada del accidente que provocó la muerte de su marido y que “no busco culpables, busco la verdad”. También ha asegurado que “no puedo aceptar una versión tan simple de los hechos”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLij2VhdjLY
Julio 27th, 2012 at 09:57
In #45 Humberto wrote: “A FREUDIAN SLIP BY “LA CHINA” RAUL, HE COMPARED HIMSELF TO Bashar al-Assad !!”
It’s no surprise. Cuba remains one of the few supporters of the Syrian dictatorship. They’ve seen one thug after another fall from power and are worried they might be next. The lie they tell is the US is behind all these revolutions, but it was the people of Tunisia, Libya, egypt and now Syria who are rising up against the dictators. That’s Raul’s nightmare: one day the Cuban people will be shouting “El paredón” for him.
Julio 26th, 2012 at 22:37
THE CASTROFASCISTS ARE READY TO TALK TO THE USA BUT NOT TO THE DISSIDENTS INSIDE THE ISLAND PRISON! THAT SHOULD TELL YOU A LOT ABOUT WHAT THEIR REAL AIM IS! SURVIVAL!
REUTERS: Raul Castro: Cuba willing to sit down with US - By PETER ORSI,
HAVANA — Cuban President Raul Castro said Thursday that his government is willing to mend fences with bitter Cold War foe the United States and sit down to discuss anything, as long as it is a conversation between equals.
“Any day they want, the table is set. This has already been said through diplomatic channels,” Castro said. “If they want to talk, we will talk.”
Later Thursday, Mike Hammer, assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. State Department, said that before there can be meaningful engagement, Cuba must institute democratic reforms, improve human rights and release Alan Gross, a Maryland native serving 15 years for bringing satellite and other communications equipment into Cuba illegally while on a USAID-funded democracy-building program.
“Our message is very clear to the Castro government: They need to begin to allow for the political freedom of expression that the Cuban people demand, and we are prepared to discuss with them how this can be furthered,” Hammer said. “They are the ones ultimately responsible for taking those actions, and today we have not seen them.”
Hammer highlighted the brief detention this week of dozens of dissidents outside the funeral of prominent Oswaldo Paya, who died in a car crash last weekend, saying “the authoritarian tendencies are very evident on each and every day in Cuba.”
Days after Paya’s death, Raul Castro had harsh words for the island’s opposition, accusing them of plotting to topple the government.
“Some small factions are doing nothing less than trying to lay the groundwork and hoping that one day what happened in Libya will happen here, what they’re trying to make happen in Syria,” Castro said.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.google.com/hostedne.....dea347e831
Julio 26th, 2012 at 14:05
R.I.P OSWALDO PAYA, this man has done more for Cubans than any other. He will always be remembered. Shame on the REPRESSIVE REGIME who killed this fine gentlemen. The Cuban government is losing its grip and the people are starting to express their discontent in a public manner.
Viva Cuba Libre. VIVA LAURA POLLAN, another victim of the same regime.
Julio 26th, 2012 at 13:43
YOU BET THAT IS WHAT THE CUBAN PEOPLE WANT! IS THAT A BAD THING? A FREUDIAN SLIP BY “LA CHINA” RAUL, HE COMPARED HIMSELF TO Bashar al-Assad !! THE CASTROFASCISTS ARE AGAINST THE WALL WITH THE POOR ECONOMY, FLOW OF INFORMATION IN AND OUT OF CUBA AND NOW THE MURDER INTENTIONAL OR NOT OF Oswaldo Paya & Harold Cepero!
Days after prominent dissident Oswalo Paya died in a car crash, Castro had harsh words for the island’s opposition, accusing them of plotting to topple the government.
“Some small factions are doing nothing less than trying to lay the groundwork and hoping that one day what happened in Libya will happen here, what they’re trying to make happen in Syria,” Castro said.
MIAMI HERALD: Raul Castro: Cuba willing to sit down with US - by Peter Orsi
HAVANA — Cuban President Raul Castro said Thursday that his government is willing to mend fences with bitter Cold War foe the United States and sit down to discuss anything, as long as it is a conversation between equals.
At the end of a Revolution Day ceremony marking the 59th anniversary of a failed uprising against a military barracks, Castro grabbed the microphone for apparently impromptu remarks. He echoed previous statements that no topic is off-limits, including U.S. concerns about democracy, freedom of the press and human rights on the island, as long as it is a conversation between equals.
“Any day they want, the table is set. This has already been said through diplomatic channels,” Castro said. “If they want to talk, we will talk.”
Washington would have to be prepared to hear Cuba’s own complaints about the treatment of those issues in the United States and its European allies, he added.
“We are nobody’s colony, nobody’s puppet,” Castro said.
“We will be like ‘Che,’” she said, repeating the mantra taught to schoolchildren across the island. Argentine-born guerrilla Ernesto “Che” Guevara is held up as a model of personal conduct in Cuba.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.miamiherald.com/201.....ry-of.html
Julio 26th, 2012 at 12:37
Rest in peace Oswaldo Payá. Thank You Yoani for blogging about this “accident” and many other interesting things. Elina from Sweden
Julio 25th, 2012 at 23:11
A BEAUTIFUL ESSAY CELEBRATING THE LIVES OF Oswaldo Payá & Harold Cepero TWO GREAT MEN! MAY THEY REST IN PEASE AND MAY THEIR DREAM OF A FREE CUBA SOON COME TRUE!
POLICYMIC: Anti Fidel Castro Cuba Leader Oswaldo Paya Dies at 61 - Natalia Martinez
On Monday, a vigil was held for Cuban civil rights leader Oswaldo Payá in Havana – a presidential sendoff, as writer, photographer, truth-teller, and activist Orlando Luis Pardo tweeted from Cuba. But, in the same breath, Pardo lamented that it was barely a sendoff fit for such a man, and he wished that even 1% of those gathered that evening had joined Payá’s efforts while alive. Renowned dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez posted footage – a brimming church, a swaying crowd signing La Bayamesa, the Cuban National Anthem. En cadenas vivir es vivir en afrenta y oprobio sumido. To live in chains is to live in dishonor and ignominy. In communal crescendo, Morir por la patria, es vivir. To die for your country is to live.
The words fit, but what comfort could they give a grieving family and a reeling group of fellow activists; what answers, to an international press alleging government foul play in the car accident that had killed Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero a day earlier?
On Tuesday, at Payá’s funeral, dozens of dissidents were arrested by Cuban police – an appalling erosion of common decency and respect for the dead.
Few things in life are simple. Most things are gray and murky, forever tainted by dichotomies and symbiotic pairings – we can’t escape the ineffable interdependence between hope and hardship, pain and survival, faith and sacrifice. In Cuba, the absurd and extreme rule in tandem.
“So much freedom, so little freedom. Freedom to be reckless, but no genuine freedom from woe. Plenty of thrills, and an overabundance of risks, large and small.” – Waiting for Snow in Havana, Carlos Eire
Against this contradictory and Orwellian backdrop, a tale as old as time has raged for the 53 years since Castro took power – Cain and Abel, brother vs. brother, a country imploding and a people stagnated in rebirth. Into this mess – for lack of a more sophisticated word – Oswaldo Payá waded to ask for what his countrymen legitimately deserved and to create the first open dialogue the island had witnessed in decades.
In 1998, he founded the Varela Project to petition for a national referendum on freedom of expression, of the press, of elections. Thousands of signatures were collected by hand – at the risk of all who penned their name and all who trekked to ask them to do so – and presented to the National Assembly. Appropriately, the project was named after Felix Varela, a notable Catholic priest who was condemned to death by the government for supporting the abolition of slavery in Cuba. Varela escaped to the United States, where he continued to write about human rights and religious tolerance, and to build bridges between the English and Spanish-speaking communities in Florida. For his devout life, he is currently under consideration to be canonized as a Catholic Saint.
In a country where trabajo voluntario – volunteerism – is ironically compulsory, Payá and his peers volunteered for the thankless, dangerous, and Sisyphean task of demanding their rights in a nonviolent and legal way from an oppressive regime.
In the end, the government dismissed the signatures, designated them as counter-revolutionary, jailed dozens, and swept the Varela Project under the rug. Many Cubans, especially in the provinces, have yet to hear that their rights were being clamored for ten years ago. Despite threats, oppressive actions, and diminished support, Payá continued to work and seek his vision of a free and fair Cuba and to encourage open dialogue and debate – building castles out of quicksand.
His work changed the tone of discourse in Cuba, bridged differences, and inspired many on both shores of the Florida Straights.
I met Oswaldo Payá briefly this past March, when I attended a mass by Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, given in the Havana Cathedral in honor of Pope Benedict’s visit to Cuba. It was a stellar oratory triumph, an honest denunciation from a faithful man of all sides of the “Cuba issue,” and it was met with a standing ovation. Playing a seemingly unnoticed cat-and-mouse game with plain-clothed security officers, Payá wove through the crowd. He was there in violation of restrictions placed on dissidents during the Papal visit, somehow having made his way despite being under surveillance. Many of us were handed leaflets calling for democratic change in Cuba, only to turn around and see no one there who could have given it to us. A silent, humble, but defiant angel.
With him that afternoon was Harold Cepero, who died with Payá on Sunday and was rushed to a hurried burial on Monday. Harold was a young dissident and dreamer who became involved with Payá when he and his friends were attacked and forced to withdraw from their university after signing the Varela Project. For all my travels and experiences, I’ve never met a person like Harold, a living and breathing mix of great sorrow and buoyant hope.
In typical Cuban duality, this isn’t just the story of men who willed the Varela Project into existence and received the Sakharov Prize for their work (Payá did). It is the story of men who shouldered responsibility and who persisted despite arrests, poverty, persecution. But it is also the story of a great loss felt too soon and of even greater shame and regret if the accusations of foul play are not apocryphal.
For my part, as I drove to a vigil being held in Miami to honor Oswaldo and Harold on Tuesday, I dangerously ignored the road and hallucinated a single distinct memory of two men – alone – handing out pamphlets for a vision of the future they were willing to risk their lives for. In the deceptive labyrinths of Cuban history and politics, memory is what we have to live on, simultaneously the food of our souls and the plaything of our future children.
“Memory is the most potent truth. Show me history untouched by memories and you show me lies.” – Waiting for Snow in Havana, Carlos Eire
http://www.policymic.com/artic.....dies-at-61
Julio 25th, 2012 at 22:48
THE CASTROFASCISTS ARE DOING THEIR DURESS JOB ON THESE TWO YOUNG MEN! NOTHING IS EVER TRANSPARENT IN THE ISLAND PRISON OF CUBA!
QUE NOTICIAS ESPAÑA: Carromero, continues to be held in Bayamo after his second night in a police station.
The Spanish Angel Carromero continues to be held in the eastern city of Bayamo where he spent his second night in police custody, Spanish diplomatic sources in Havana told EFE.
The Spanish deputy consul, who has been in the city of Bayamo for two days to offer assistance to Carromero could not see him on Tuesday even though he had an appointment for that purpose.
The Cuban authorities responsible for the custody of Carromero claimed that he was giving evidence, according to sources cited.
Carromero, Deputy Secretary of New Generations of the Partido Popular in Madrid, was the driver of the vehicle that crashed on Sunday near Bayamo, 750 kilometers from Havana, in which opposition leader Oswaldo Paya was traveling along with his compatriot Harold Cepero, both who died in the incident.
The Spanish Carromero and Swedish Jens Aron Modig, who was also in that car were slightly injured.
After being discharged from the hospital on Monday where they were treated, they began to testify before the local authorities responsible for investigating the incident.
The Spanish consular official who is in Bayamo has requested copies of the medical report of Carromero as well as the signed statement about the circumstances of the accident.
According to the official Cuban version, the accident occurred when the driver of a car hire tour lost control and crashed into a tree.
Reguarding the situation with Modig, the Swedish embassy has not provided any information in the past days and referred EFE to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of his country for any questions.
The ruling Popular Party (PP) Spanish hopes that the Cuban government will work to streamline procedures so that Carromero, can return to Spain “as soon as possible”, said Rep. Luis Teofilo to EFE in Madrid.
QUE NOTICIAS ESPAÑA : Carromero, retenido aún en Bayamo tras su segunda noche en una comisaría
El español Ángel Carromero sigue retenido en la ciudad oriental de Bayamo donde pasó su segunda noche en dependencias policiales, informaron hoy a Efe fuentes diplomáticas españolas en La Habana.
El cónsul adjunto español, que permanece desde have dos días en Bayamo para ofrecer asistencia a Carromero, no pudo verle el martes a pesar de que había una cita concertada para tal fin.
Las autoridades cubanas encargadas de la custodia de Carromero alegaron que se encontraba prestando declaración, según las citadas fuentes.
Carromero, vicesecretario de Nuevas Generaciones del Partido Popular en Madrid, era el conductor del vehículo que se accidentó el pasado domingo en las cercanías de Bayamo, a 750 kilómetros de La Habana, y en el que viajaban el opositor Oswaldo Payá y su compatriota Harold Cepero, que fallecieron en el siniestro.
El español y el sueco Jens Aron Modig, que también viajaba en ese automóvil, resultaron heridos leves.
Tras ser dados de alta el lunes en el hospital donde fueron atendidos, comenzaron a prestar declaración ante las autoridades locales encargadas de la investigación del suceso.
El funcionario consular español que está en Bayamo ha solicitado copias del informe médico de Carromero así como de la declaración que firmó sobre las circunstancias del accidente.
Según la versión oficial cubana, el siniestro ocurrió cuando el conductor de un auto turístico de alquiler perdió el control e impactó contra un árbol.
Sobre la situación de Modig, la Embajada de Suecia no ha facilitado información alguna en estos días y, consultada por Efe, se remite al Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores de su país.
El gobernante Partido Popular (PP) español confía en que el Gobierno cubano colaborará para agilizar los trámites para que Carromero, pueda regresar a España “lo antes posible”, según dijo a Efe en Madrid el diputado de esta formación Teófilo de Luis.
http://www.que.es/ultimas-noti.....a-efe.html
Julio 25th, 2012 at 22:28
Miguel Angel!! LOOKS LIKE A FASCINATING LECTURE, AND IS BASED ON THIS BOOK. BELOW IS A PREVIEW OF THE CONTENT!
BOOK: The Moncada Attack: Birth of the Cuban Revolution - by Antonio Rafael De LA Cova
No account of Fidel Castro’s rise to power is complete without mention of the failed attacks of July 26, 1953, on the Cuban army garrisons at Moncada and Bayamo. Yet no single volume to date has offered a comprehensive assessment of the assault that set the Cuban Revolution into motion and for which the 26 of July Movement was named. In this thorough study, Antonio Rafael de la Cova views this initial overthrow attempt as a propaganda victory that marked the start of Castro’s ascent to national power. Drawing from three decades of interviews with more than one hundred participants–including surviving rebels, military and government personnel, and politicians–de la Cova screens historical facts from popular fictions to build an accurate account of this turning point in Cuban history and the cold war.
In July of 1953, aided by his brother Raúl, Fidel Castro led 160 sparsely armed and poorly trained followers in simultaneous assaults on two Cuban army posts, declaring as his goal the restoration of constitutional democracy on the island. Skirmishes lasted only minutes on both fronts as the insurgents failed to take the garrisons and were killed, captured, or dispersed without contingency plans. A master of manipulation, Castro was later able to recast this humiliating military defeat as a political victory when Major General Fulgencio Batista’s troops summarily executed more than fifty rebel prisoners, garnering the ire of the people.
De la Cova chronicles the assaults and their aftermath as they happened, with a special focus on countering false statements later made by Castro at his subsequent trial and in his published defense speech History Will Absolve Me–a required text for Cuban schoolchildren to this day. Through research and interviews, de la Cova brings to light the persistent falsehoods told of atrocities committed by Batista’s soldiers and Castro’s rebels. He proves that Castro invented a legend of prisoner torture, mutilation, and dismemberment and that likewise Batista falsified the historical record of the attack. The myths surrounding the assault provided superb fodder for building support for the successful guerrilla campaign that brought Castro to power in 1959. Assessing the impact of this mythology, the divided loyalties of the Cuban soldiers, and U.S. policy toward Cuba in the 1950s, de la Cova presents a detailed and candid survey of the lasting importance of the Moncada attack and its place in history as the birth of the Cuban revolution.
Julio 25th, 2012 at 22:19
THE CASTROFASCISTS ARE TRYING TO THREATEN THESE TOURISTS INTO CHANGING THEIR STORY TO BENEFIT THEIR VERSION OF THE OSWALDO PAYA “ACCIDENT”!!
CUBANET: Swedish Political figure traveling with Paya has not been able to leave Cuba
HAVANA, Cuba, July 25 - Aron Modig, the leader of the Christian Democratic Youth of Sweden (Kristdemokratiska Ungdomsförbundet, KDU) wounded in the accident on Sunday that killed dissident and Oswaldo Paya & Harold Cepero, continues to remain on the island, according to reports from Diario de Cuba
“We’re trying to bring him home as soon as possible,” said Kalle Bäck, press secretary of the KDU from Stockholm. Bäck refused to respond to Diario de Cuba if Modig remains in Cuba because the authorities of that country will not let him leave.
The Swedish political figure was traveling last Sunday along with the spaniard Angel Carromero, Paya and Cepero, when they allegedly suffered the accident in Bayamo, in the eastern province of Granma.
The circumstances of the incident have not yet been clarified. The Cuban government said it was a “regrettable accident”, but relatives of Paya, dissidents and exiles cast doubt on that version.
Modig, who suffered minor injuries, was discharged on Monday and gave testimony to the authorities investigating the accident. Then, according to press reports, traveled to Havana accompanied by diplomats at the Swedish embassy and had plans to leave the island on Tuesday, according to Diario de Cuba.
CUBANET: Político sueco que viajaba con Payá aún no ha podido salir de Cuba
LA HABANA, Cuba, 25 de julio– Aron Modig, el líder de la Juventud Demócrata Cristiana de Suecia (Kristdemokratiska Ungdomsförbundet, KDU) herido el pasado domingo enaccidente en el que murieron los opositores cubanosOswaldo Payá y Harold Cepero, continúa en la isla, según reportes de Diario de Cuba
“Estamos tratando de traerlo a casa lo antes posible”, dijo Kalle Bäck, secretario de prensa de la KDU desde Estocolmo. Bäck rehusó responder a Diario de Cuba si Modig permanece en Cuba porque las autoridades de ese país no lo dejan salir.
El político sueco viajaba el domingo pasado junto al español Ángel Carromero, Payá y Cepero, cuando supuestamente sufrieron el accidente en Bayamo, en la oriental provincia de Granma.
Las circunstancias del suceso aún no han sido aclaradas. El régimen cubano afirmó que se trató de un “lamentable accidente de tránsito”, pero familiares de Payá, disidentes y exiliados ponen en duda esa versión.
Modig, que sufrió lesiones leves, fue dado de alta el lunes y prestó declaración a las autoridades que investigan el accidente. Luego, según versiones de prensa, viajó a La Habana acompañado por diplomáticos de la embajada sueca y tenía planes de abandonar la isla el martes, según Diario de Cuba.
http://www.cubanet.org/noticia.....r-de-cuba/
Julio 25th, 2012 at 22:19
THE CASTROFASCISTS ARE TRYING TO THREATEN THESE TOURISTS INTO CHANGING THEIR STORY TO BENEFIT THEIR VERSION OF THE OSWALDO PAYA “ACCIDENT”!!
CUBANET: Swedish Political figure traveling with Paya has not been able to leave Cuba
HAVANA, Cuba, July 25 (Agencies, http://www.cubanet.org) - Aron Modig, the leader of the Christian Democratic Youth of Sweden (Kristdemokratiska Ungdomsförbundet, KDU) wounded in the accident on Sunday that killed dissident and Oswaldo Paya & Harold Cepero, continues to remain on the island, according to reports from Diario de Cuba
“We’re trying to bring him home as soon as possible,” said Kalle Bäck, press secretary of the KDU from Stockholm. Bäck refused to respond to Diario de Cuba if Modig remains in Cuba because the authorities of that country will not let him leave.
The Swedish political figure was traveling last Sunday along with the spaniard Angel Carromero, Paya and Cepero, when they allegedly suffered the accident in Bayamo, in the eastern province of Granma.
The circumstances of the incident have not yet been clarified. The Cuban government said it was a “regrettable accident”, but relatives of Paya, dissidents and exiles cast doubt on that version.
Modig, who suffered minor injuries, was discharged on Monday and gave testimony to the authorities investigating the accident. Then, according to press reports, traveled to Havana accompanied by diplomats at the Swedish embassy and had plans to leave the island on Tuesday, according to Diario de Cuba.
CUBANET: Político sueco que viajaba con Payá aún no ha podido salir de Cuba
LA HABANA, Cuba, 25 de julio (Agencias,www.cubanet.org) – Aron Modig, el líder de la Juventud Demócrata Cristiana de Suecia (Kristdemokratiska Ungdomsförbundet, KDU) herido el pasado domingo enaccidente en el que murieron los opositores cubanosOswaldo Payá y Harold Cepero, continúa en la isla, según reportes de Diario de Cuba
“Estamos tratando de traerlo a casa lo antes posible”, dijo Kalle Bäck, secretario de prensa de la KDU desde Estocolmo. Bäck rehusó responder a Diario de Cuba si Modig permanece en Cuba porque las autoridades de ese país no lo dejan salir.
El político sueco viajaba el domingo pasado junto al español Ángel Carromero, Payá y Cepero, cuando supuestamente sufrieron el accidente en Bayamo, en la oriental provincia de Granma.
Las circunstancias del suceso aún no han sido aclaradas. El régimen cubano afirmó que se trató de un “lamentable accidente de tránsito”, pero familiares de Payá, disidentes y exiliados ponen en duda esa versión.
Modig, que sufrió lesiones leves, fue dado de alta el lunes y prestó declaración a las autoridades que investigan el accidente. Luego, según versiones de prensa, viajó a La Habana acompañado por diplomáticos de la embajada sueca y tenía planes de abandonar la isla el martes, según Diario de Cuba.
http://www.cubanet.org/noticia.....r-de-cuba/
Julio 25th, 2012 at 22:08
In a couple of hours it will be July 26, 2012, another Anniversary of the Attack on the Moncada Barracks, the beginning of the Cuban revolution on July 26, 1953. Oswaldo Paya is probably his latest victim, but there have been thousands and thousands of Cubans that have been murdered as a result of this movement. I recommend you watch this video if you want to understand Cuba today.
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/200357-1
Julio 25th, 2012 at 15:09
@Help, I honestly don’t know what to make of all this. All I know is none of us have access to the survivors or evidence, and most if not all of what is in the media right now is simply speculation.
And while a certain someone keeps posting articles that purport to demonstrate a conspiracy, here is an excerpt of one published by the newspaper El Mundo, in Spain.
“Ángel Carromero, el español herido en el accidente que le ha costado la vida a Oswaldo Payá se encuentra en buen estado. Está detenido desde ayer en Bayamo (Cuba), porque conducía el coche el que el perdieron la vida Oswaldo Paya y Harold Cepero.
Según las declaraciones de Carromero, no llegó a ver una señal de tráfico de reducción de velocidad. Por este motivo perdió el control del vehículo y cayó por un terraplén.”
My Spanish is not perfect, but the translation I can give is:
“Angel Carromero, the Spaniard injured in the accident that killed Oswaldo Paya finds himself in good condition. He was detained yesterday in Bayamo because he was driving the car in which Oswaldo Paya and Harold Cepero lost their lives.
According to Carromero’s statment, he did not see a traffic sign which indicated a lower speed limit. For this reason he lost control of the vehicle and fell in an embankment? (not sure if that’s the right word, looked it up on google).”
The full article is at: http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/.....49994.html
So here you have the driver himself not saying anything about another vehicle trying to ram them off the road or slamming into them. El Mundo is a reputable newspaper, but I recognize that other reputable news outlets are publishing commentaries that give a different slant.
Regarding the arrests at the funeral, I think it’s a little tacky to deliberately cause a scene like that when people are trying to mourn. Indeed, some mourners who weren’t part of those who were shouting were unfortunately rounded up and arrested along with the dissidents.
There’s also the matter of the media saying that Carromero is being unjustly detained. But he was involved in an accident. Isn’t it logical that people involved in an accident would have to make statements to the authorities? This process occurs whether it’s in Cuba, or anywhere else.
Julio 25th, 2012 at 14:50
Freethinker81!! THE WORLD IS WATCHING THE CASTROFASCISTS VERY CLOSELY DONT YOU THINK?
BBC NEWS: Police free Cubans detained at Oswaldo Paya’s funeral - Police in Cuba have freed a group of dissidents they had arrested on Tuesday at the funeral of the prominent activist Oswaldo Paya.
The dissidents were arrested as they were leaving the church where Oswaldo Paya’s funeral service had been held.
One of those detained, Guillermo Farinas, told AFP news agency he had been struck in the face and forced onto a bus which took him and other activists to a police barracks.
“I was arrested for about nine hours at the Tarara police school (in eastern Havana) with about 20 other dissidents.” Mr Farinas said.
Mr Farinas is known for staging hunger strikes that drew attention to the plight of political prisoners in Cuba.
In 2010 he was awarded the Sakharov Prize, the European Union’s human rights award, which had gone to Mr Paya in 2002.
The United States has condemned Tuesday’s arrests.
In a statement, White House spokesman Jay Carney said it was “a stark demonstration of the climate of repression in Cuba”.
“We call on the Cuban government to respect internationally recognised fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, rather than arresting their citizens for peacefully exercising these universal rights that are protected and promoted by governments throughout the world,” Mr Carney wrote.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worl.....a-18990351
Julio 25th, 2012 at 14:44
THE WORLD COMMUNITY CANNOT BE FOOLED SO EASILY BY THE CASTROFASCISTS!
UPI NEWS: Arrests show Cuba not yet ready for reform -Cuba’s wide-scale crackdown on dissent that led to arrests at a funeral shows the Central American country is not yet ready for credible political reform despite its ambition to embrace a market economy.
HAVANA, July 25 (UPI) — Cuba’s wide-scale crackdown on dissent that led to arrests at a funeral shows the Central American country isn’t ready for credible political reform despite its ambition to embrace a market economy.
For more than two years Cuba has been sending signals it is reforming and restructuring and recently drew multibillion-dollar Brazilian investment in preparation for its entry into the marketplace.
The Cuban process bears uncanny resemblance to reforms initiated in China which opened up the economy but left the Communist Party in place, a decision now seen behind that country’s hard-line stance on dissent and huge corruption scandals involving party officials with scant accountability.
Cuba, too, has loosened the Communist Party’s grip in parts on the populace but makes notable exceptions on issues of fundamental freedoms of expression, association and free enterprise.
This became starkly apparent this week when Cuban security authorities rounded up prominent individuals who turned up at the funeral of political activist Oswaldo Paya, 60.
However, as hundreds of the popular activist’s admirers and friends assembled at the San Salvador Catholic Church in Havana, security forces in civilian attire turned up too, but to round up some of the mourners.
Among those picked up was Guillermo Farinas, who staged hunger strikes earlier to draw attention to Cuba’s political prisoners. In 2010 Farinas received the Sakharov Prize, the European Union’s human rights award, which was earlier awarded to Paya in 2002.
The exact circumstances in which Paya and Cepero died may never be known, while evidence remains scarce but Paya’s followers vowed to pursue his legacy of a stepped up campaign for civil rights in Cuba.
At the funeral, Paya’s daughter, Rosa Maria Paya, 23, contested the official account of her father’s death and announced she was holding the government of President Raul Castro responsible for the “physical integrity of my two brothers, my mother and all my family.”
“The repeated threats against the life of my father and our family and those who have accompanied us during all these years, know the truth in what I am saying,” she said.
Rosa Maria Paya told Miami’s El Nuevo Herald that passengers in the car told the family of a second vehicle that had tried to force the car off the road.
“We are going to shed light and seek justice for the violent death of my father and our young friend Harold,” she said at the funeral service.
“We do not seek vengeance,” she said. “We do not do it out of hatred because as my father said … we do not have hatred in our hearts but we do have a thirst for the truth and a yearning for liberty.”
CLCK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Sp.....&or=tn
Julio 25th, 2012 at 13:30
Freethinker, re #6
The Swedish Christian Democratic Party is not a “right-wing” party. It’s orientation is described as centre-right. Many European countries have Christian Democratic parties, including Angel Merkel’s party in Germany.
The Spanish Peoples Party is described as “centre-right to right”, slightly more conservative than the CD’s. They are the current ruling party in Spain, having won the 2011 election. The accusation that the CIA funds them in order to oppose the Castro regime is laughable. Any conservative Spaniard would naturally oppose the Castro regime.
The website you linked to, Contrainjerencia, is an extreme Left pro-Castro propaganda page.
Julio 25th, 2012 at 13:25
MORE PIECES OF THE PUZZLE!! GOOD MORNING Freethinker81 AND THE REST OF YOU CASTRO AGENTS/APOLOGISTS!
THE INDEPENDENT UK: Dead Cuban dissident’s car ‘was rammed off the road’ -Guy Adams
The death of a Cuban dissident killed in a car crash on Sunday is at the centre of growing controversy after family members claimed that the vehicle he was travelling in was deliberately forced off the road.
A short, official report of the incident published in Granma, Cuba’s government newspaper, offered no explanation as to how the driver of the vehicle managed to lose control. It described the mysterious incident as “regrettable”. However Mr Paya’s son, who is also called Oswaldo, told the BBC yesterday that two survivors of the accident – a Swedish and a Spanish politician – had claimed that it was caused by the driver of a truck which rammed their car repeatedly and forced it off the road.
“The two survivors did not lose consciousness and they said they were hit by a truck. It was not an accident. They say they were hit several times,” he claimed, adding that over the years, his 60-year-old father had received “multiple death threats” from Castro loyalists.
Only a month ago, Mr Paya had survived another serious car accident, when a taxi crashed into him. Details of his fatal accident have yet to be shared with the media by the Swedish and Spanish politicians, who escaped from the vehicle with relatively mild injuries. It remains unclear who was driving.
The Swedish embassy in Havana declined to comment last night, though the injured politician in their care was named as Jens Aron Modig. The Spanish victim is believed to be Angel Carromero Barrios, vice president of the ruling Popular Party’s “New Generations” movement.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.independent.co.uk/n.....73318.html
Julio 25th, 2012 at 06:25
Freethinker81, what do you think about the conflicting reports?
You think the Cuban government is capable of murdering a dissident?
Julio 24th, 2012 at 22:54
OK, SO ONE LAST ONE FOR THE ROAD!! GOOD NIGHT Freethinker81 , Cuba Libre, Skully, Busterino and any other pseudo names!! AND C.L. GET YOUR GLASSES AND READ THIS ARTICLE, IT WILL TELL YOU WHO WAS DRIVING THE CAR WHERE OSWALDO PAYA DIED! JE JE JE! CHEERIOS!!!
CNN: Dozens reported arrested on way to Cuban dissident’s funeral - By Patrick Oppmann,
Dissident organizations reported that dozens of anti-government activists were arrested as they made their way to Paya’s funeral. Video showed police pushing several dissidents into buses.
The Cuban government Tuesday did not immediately respond to CNN’s inquiries regarding the arrests.
Payá, 60, and another dissident Harold Cepero Escalante died Sunday after the car they were traveling in crashed near La Gavina, Cuba.
Two other men in the car, Spanish politician Angel Carromero and Swedish politician Aron Modig, survived and were released from the hospital on Monday.
Carromero was behind the wheel when the rental car crashed said Francisco de Borja Morate Martín, a counselor in the Spanish Embassy in Havana.
“He is very shaken psychologically,” he said. The diplomat said that on Tuesday Carromero was, for a second day, speaking to Cuban police and was being assisted by Spain’s consul to Cuba.
Carromero’s testimony could be key to determining how Payá, one of Cuba’s best known dissidents, died.
Amid the questions that swirl around Payá’s death, some of his fellow dissidents called for an end to the conspiracy theories and for a transparent investigation into how he died.
“He tried to carry out reform in a nonviolent way,” said fellow dissident Elizardo Sanchez. “It turns out that he died in a violent way; an absurd and strange accident.”
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/24/.....index.html
Julio 24th, 2012 at 22:38
Freethinker81 said: “It’s really quite tiresome and I wonder if someone pays you to post in all these places. I repeat from some time ago - if you want an audience, why don’t you start your own blog instead of hijacking other people’s work?”
Freethinker81 !! TO ANSWER YOU QUESTIONS: #1. I DONT GET PAID & I LIKE TO INFORM #2. NO I DONT WANT MY OWN BLOG, TOO LAZY HERE AND NOT A TECH GUY & #3. I JUST LOVE TO SEE CASTROFASCIST AGENTS/APOLOGISTS SQUIRM TO A POINT WHERE THEY LASH OUT AT ME WITH DEFAMATION ATTEMPTS AND BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! JE JE JE! BIG GUSANO HUGS AND KISSES AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
Julio 24th, 2012 at 22:22
Freethinker81 said: “Again, you don’t answer my question, but choose to respond with empty rhetoric and hyperbole. Humberto, it’s very clear what YOUR agenda is. You TROLL so many different websites and try to drown out any opinions that don’t coincide with your own. Yes, I’ve seen your moniker on the Huffington Post, CNN and others.”
Freethinker81!! DID I HIT YOUR G-SPOT BABY??? YOU LIKE IT WITH A FUACATAAAAAAAAAA?? JE JE JE! GUESS WE HANG OUT IN THE SAME COMMENT SECTIONS HONEY BUNNS!!!
Julio 24th, 2012 at 21:22
Again, you don’t answer my question, but choose to respond with empty rhetoric and hyperbole. Humberto, it’s very clear what YOUR agenda is. You TROLL so many different websites and try to drown out any opinions that don’t coincide with your own. Yes, I’ve seen your moniker on the Huffington Post, CNN and others. It’s really quite tiresome and I wonder if someone pays you to post in all these places. I repeat from some time ago - if you want an audience, why don’t you start your own blog instead of hijacking other people’s work?
The fact of the matter is even Yoani herself (who writes the posts in this blog in case you forgot) did not actually accuse the government of murdering Mr. Paya. You’re trying to stir up a controversy when all the facts are not even known yet.
You love to throw around that word “Castrofascist” around, but I find it ironic that someone who uses the word fascist like that can’t even have a civilized debate with someone else that might have a different opinion. Isn’t that what fascists do? Ridicule, demonise, and try to drown out or even silence the opposition? In many ways, you resemble the Cuban exiles in Miami, who, like the Castro regime, cannot tolerate any dissent.
Julio 24th, 2012 at 20:59
TWO KEY PARAGRAPHS OF THE OSWALDO PAYA MURDER PUZZLE ARE BELOW, INTERESTING HYPOTHESIS BUT VERY RELEVANT! THE CASTROFASCISTS NEED MONEY AND THEY HATE BAD PUBLICITY! WHAT DO YOU THINK Cuba Libre, Freethinker81??
“Payá, the country’s most prominent Catholic voice, crossed a red line in challenging the government’s relations with the church, which had become a pillar of the government’s strategy of survival. He also did so at a time when the regime, emboldened by the cardinal’s silence at the mass arrests during the pope’s visit to Cuba in March, was not about to tolerate criticism.”
Visiting Bayamo with foreigners — the two survivors of the crash were fellow Catholics from Spain and Sweden — crossed another red line. The city is the center of the cholera outbreak in the eastern part of Cuba, and for the regime, the disease is not just a medical problem but also an economic and political threat. The leakage of information about the outbreak threatens travel to Cuba and tourism, major sources of hard currency, which the regime desperately needs.
WASHINGTON POST: Who killed Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá and why - By Carl Gershman president of the National Endowment for Democracy.
With the death of Oswaldo Payá, a key leader of the Cuban democratic opposition, Cuba has suffered what the writer Yoani Sanchez called “a dramatic loss for its present and an irreplaceable loss for its future.” The circumstances surrounding Payá’s death Sunday have sparked controversy similar to that caused in October by the death of Laura Pollan , the leader of the much-acclaimed Ladies in White, just weeks after she was attacked at a protest march by a government supporter.
The Cuban government said that Payá died in a traffic accident near the city of Bayamo when his car slammed into a tree, killing him and another passenger and injuring two others. But Payá’s daughter, Rosa Maria Payá, immediately challenged that version, saying that the family had received information from the survivors that their car was repeatedly rammed by another vehicle. “So we think it’s not an accident,” she said, according to CNN en Español. “They wanted to do harm and then ended up killing my father.”
The family also said that Oswaldo Payá was targeted in a similar incident two weeks earlier in Havana. In retrospect, they now see that incident as a warning from the regime.
Why would the Cuban government regard Payá as enough of a threat to want him killed? He was one of the most prominent opponents of the Cuban dictatorship, a Catholic activist who founded the Christian Liberation Movement in 1988. He is best known for the Varela Project, a petition drive he launched in 2002 that called for free elections and other rights. That angered the Cuban government, which responded by forcing through the National Assembly a constitutional amendment making the communist system in Cuba irrevocable. It followed that with the 2003 “Black Spring,” arresting 75 of the most prominent Cuban activists that March.
But the government didn’t arrest Payá, because of the international renown that he had achieved. The European Parliament awarded him its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2002; that year he was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by hundreds of parliamentarians in a campaign led by his friend Vaclav Havel, the Czech Republic president. Unlike Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma and Liu Xiaobo of China, for whom Havel also campaigned, Payá never received the Nobel Prize. But he was an activist in the same mold — a centrist within the opposition, committed to nonviolence and reconciliation. Payá opposed the U.S. embargo against Cuba, for which he was criticized by some opponents of the Castro regime.
Although other activists had replaced Payá in recent years at the cutting edge of the Cuban democracy movement, he recently provoked the government on two issues of great sensitivity. In May, Payá broke a long silence when he sharply criticized an article in a lay Catholic publication that had defended the dialogue of the archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, with the regime and had attacked the cardinal’s critics. Payá accused the article’s authors of seeking to create “an artificial confrontation between the opposition and the church,” calling them “political commissars” who were asking “for a vote of confidence for Raul Castro’s government.”
Payá, the country’s most prominent Catholic voice, crossed a red line in challenging the government’s relations with the church, which had become a pillar of the government’s strategy of survival. He also did so at a time when the regime, emboldened by the cardinal’s silence at the mass arrests during the pope’s visit to Cuba in March, was not about to tolerate criticism.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....story.html
Julio 24th, 2012 at 20:24
Freethinker81 !! TU ERES UN SANTO PAPA!!! “Contrary to what you might think, I’m not here with some hidden agenda” JE JE JE! TE CONOSCO BACALAO! YA TU SABES!
Julio 24th, 2012 at 20:22
Cuba Libre!! ARE YOU JEALOUS?? HAVE I STOPPED YOU FROM POSTING?? BIG GUSANOS HUGS AND KISSES!! JE JE JE!
Julio 24th, 2012 at 19:58
Take a look at this BBC News:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worl.....a-18975660
Here the tyrants starve dissidents slowly.
S.
Julio 24th, 2012 at 19:58
wow Humberto mi hermano, 15 of the 25 posts in here are from you, lol. Maybe we should rename this blog. Instead of calling t “Generation Y” we should call it “Generation H”.
Julio 24th, 2012 at 19:54
Can someone who has seen the Youtube video say at which point the police are seen beating the protesters? I’m having a hard time making it out as the camera is so shaky. Is there any other video out there of the incident? This one is just very poorly filmed.
Julio 24th, 2012 at 19:54
The man died in a car accident, he was pissed drunk and drove off the road, so stop seeing vampires and werewolves everywhere, they only exist in your imagination. The man fought for something he believed in and I respect that, but stop your eternal blaming of the Cuban government for everything and anything that happens in every day life.
Julio 24th, 2012 at 14:01
OSWALDO PAYA PRIOR TO HIS DEATH HAD ANOTHER “ACCIDENT” IN HAVANA! COINCIDENCE?? AS WE SPEAK THE OFFICIAL MOUTHPIECE ON TWITTER OF THE CASTROFASCISTS @YOHANDRY8787 , IS POINTING THE FINGER AT THE SPANISH DRIVER AS THE CULPRIT FOR OWWALDO PAYA’S DEATH!
RADIO NETHERLANDS: Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya who died ‘feared for his life’
Hundreds of mourners on Monday thronged the wake of dissident Oswaldo Paya, killed in a weekend car crash that relatives and friends charge was not an accident as Cuban authorities say.
Paya, 60, was the second key dissident to die in a year. Cuban officials said he died in a car accident near the city of Bayamo, but close supporters — foes of the Americas’ only Communist regime — say that Paya long feared for his life, and now they feared for theirs.
“He had said they were going to kill him. And this was the third accident he had this year,” charged Martha Beatriz Roque, a well known dissident economist.
“Something has got to be done urgently so that this does not go any further,” said Roque, who was among 75 dissidents rounded up tried and jailed in a 2003 crackdown before she was freed after Catholic church mediation.
“We are all in danger,” Roque insisted.
When Carter mentioned Paya’s project in a speech on Cuban state television, most Cubans, in a country with only official media, had never heard of it.
The Cuban legislature ultimately rejected the initiative.
Cuban authorities say Paya died when his rental car went off the road and hit a tree on Sunday, roughly 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Bayamo. Another Cuban, Harold Cepero Escalante, who was an activist with Paya’s group, was killed.
Two other men with them were injured — Spaniard Angel Carromero Barrios and Swede Jens Aron Modig, both 27. They were released from hospital Monday, diplomatic sources said, but did not immediately speak to media.
In Havana, Paya’s relatives and supporters called for an investigation.
“The circumstances of the accident are not at all clear,” the Christian Liberation Movement told AFP in an e-mail signed by spokesman Regis Iglesias.
The group asked the “Cuban junta” to carry out a transparent probe.
Paya’s daughter Rosa Maria said the family did not believe the death was an accident, according to Miami-based Spanish-language newspaper El Nuevo Herald.
“According to information we’ve obtained from people traveling with him, there was a vehicle trying to force him off the road… We don’t think it was an accident,” she said.
US Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban American mentioned as a potential Romney running mate, said it is “critically important the international community join those inside Cuba in pressuring the regime to be forthcoming with the truth.”
And Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Cuban-American head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, decried Paya’s death as “an overwhelming loss to the Cuban people and their struggle for democracy.”
While the circumstances of the death were unclear, she charged that Paya and his fellow pro-democracy dissidents “had been harassed by Cuban state security authorities for decades.”
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.rnw.nl/english/bull.....his-life-0
Julio 24th, 2012 at 13:43
YOUTUBE HABLEMOS PRESS CUBA: Opponents are beaten and detained at funeral of Oswaldo Paya - Hablemos Press correspondents report from the funeral of Oswaldo Paya that the police started beating opponents protesting the lack of transportation to the cemetery. The incident occurred around 9:30 am on Tuesday on Peñón street in the municipality of Cerro, near the parish of San Salvador, where the wake of Oswaldo Paya was beign held. “The police started beating on a group of opponents and mounted by force into a bus,” said Calixto Ramón Martínez Areas correspondent of our agency. Among those arrested was the Sakharov Prize Guillermo Fariñas Hernández.
YOUTUBE HABLEMOS PRESS CUBA: Golpean y detienen a opositores en funerales de Oswaldo Payá - Corresponsales de HABLEMOS PRESSS reportan desde los funerales de Oswaldo Payá que la policía la emprendió a golpes contra opositores que protestaban por la falta de transporte para llegar al cementerio. El hecho ocurrió alrededor de las 9:30 de la mañana de este martes en la calle Peñón del municipio Cerro, cercano a la parroquia San Salvador, donde se velaba el cadáver de Payá. “La policía la emprendió a golpes contra un grupo de opositores y los está montando por la fuerza en un autobús”, informó Calixto Ramón Martínez Áreas, corresponsal de nuestra agencia. Entre los detenidos se encuentra el Premio Sajarov Guillermo Fariñas Hernández.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....u.be&a
Julio 24th, 2012 at 13:26
SOME MORE PIECES OF THIS PUZZLE!
N.Y. TIMES: Oswaldo Payá, Cuban Leader of Petition Drive for Human Rights, Dies at 60 - By DAMIEN CAVE
But some Cuban dissidents said witnesses saw another vehicle hit Mr. Payá’s, and one of his three children, Rosa Maria Payá, 23, said in a tearful interview that she did not believe that the crash had been an accident.
Though the family has struggled financially in recent years and pressure on dissidents has increased, Ms. Payá said, her father never gave up hope that the country could be changed from within.
“He just wanted for Cubans to have their rights,” she said. “That’s all he ever wanted.”
And after many of Mr. Payá’s allies were arrested in 2003 in a crackdown that sent dozens of dissidents, writers and librarians to prison, he and his Christian Liberation Movement began to fade from international view. A new generation of dissidents arose to grab the spotlight, including the wives of the arrested political prisoners and young bloggers like Yoani Sánchez.
But the younger activists have continued to hold him in great respect, and many are grief-stricken.
“A faultless man just died,” Ms. Sánchez wrote on Twitter on Sunday night, adding, “We have become even more orphaned.”
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07.....-dies.html
Julio 24th, 2012 at 13:13
ACCORDING TO SOURCES AT THE CHURCH, THE APLAUSE YOU HEAR ON THE VIDEO WENT ON FOR OVER 15 MINUTES TILL THE FAMILY REQUESTED SILENCE. YOU CAN ALSO HEAR THE LOUD SHOUTS OF “LIBERTY, LIBERTY” AS WELL.
BBC STORY & VIDEO: Cuba dissident ‘forced off road’ to death, says family
Family members of prominent Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya, who died in a car crash on Sunday, say they believe his car had been forced off the road.
At a funeral mass attended by hundreds of people in Havana, Mr Paya’s son, Oswaldo, told the BBC that his father had received many death threats.
An official statement said the driver lost control as it drove on a road in eastern Granma province and hit a tree.
Mr Paya, 60, was one of Cuba’s main pro-democracy campaigners.
A fellow activist, 31-year-old Harold Cepero, was also killed in the accident near the city of Bayamo, in eastern Granma province.
Two other people - one Swede and one Spaniard - were injured but have now left hospital.
Neither the Swedish not the Spanish embassies have confirmed Mr Paya’s family’s account of what happened.
Mr Paya’s son told the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford, in Havana, that the car had been pushed off the road deliberately.
An official enquiry has been launched.
His death comes after another prominent Cuban dissident, Laura Pollan, founder of the protest group Ladies in White, died last October.
In 2002, Mr Paya won the Sakharov Prize - the European Union’s human rights award - for his work with the Varela Project, which was created in 1998.
In May 2002, he presented Cuba’s National Assembly with a petition of more than 10,000 signatures calling for an end to four decades of one-party rule.
He has since repeatedly delivered petitions to the body, including one in 2007 calling for an amnesty for non-violent political prisoners.
The Cuban government described him as an agent of the United States who was working to undermine the country’s revolution.
But he did not keep close links with the anti-Castro opposition in the US, which has criticised him for being too moderate.
CLICK LINK FOR ARTICLE & VIDEO!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/worl.....a-18963608
Julio 24th, 2012 at 12:52
EVEN THE LEFT ACKNOWLEDGES HOW MUCH REPRESSION THERE IS IN CUBA!
CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: Statement on the Passing of Oswaldo Payá - Cuban Activist Was an Inspiration to Many - John Podesta is Chair and Counselor of the Center for American Progress.
Oswaldo Payá, a great human rights activist and a champion of freedom and liberty for the Cuban people, died yesterday in a fatal car crash.
Although Payá’s name was not well known in the United States, he spent decades under constant threat in Cuba, trying to transform his native country through nonviolent action. The 60-year-old medical equipment engineer was inspired at a young age by his Roman Catholic faith and the events of the Prague Spring of 1968 to overcome his government’s intimidation tactics and build the Varela Project—his nation’s first widespread domestic opposition movement. As the driving force behind the Varela Project, a grassroots petition drive that worked within constitutional channels and collected more than 25,000 signatures in favor of expanding basic freedoms, Payá exemplified a thoughtful, inclusive, and home-grown approach to challenging the Cuban state.
Payá, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, not only inspired thousands of his fellow citizens but also earned the praise of the international community. In 2002 the European Union honored his “decisive contribution to the fight” with its most esteemed human rights award, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. That same year the National Democratic Institute recognized “his courageous and steadfast commitment to fundamental human rights” with its W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award.
I met Payá and his wife at their Havana home in 2005. The house was under constant surveillance, both electronically and by ever-present security personnel in the street outside. My colleagues and I spoke to the Payás in whispers while music blared through the house in what was probably a futile attempt to stop the conversation from being overheard by the Cuban government.
Although undeterred by the personal intimidation, Payá was pained by the costs to his children who, at the behest of their government, were shunned by friends and denied university access. Nevertheless, Payá was determined to see change come to Cuba though peaceful, nonviolent action. Despite the oppression, he never lost his faith or his hope.
We mourn Payá’s death, but his legacy lives on in Cuba, around the world, and at the Center for American Progress.
http://www.americanprogress.or.....ement.html
The Center for American Progress is a public policy research and advocacy organization. Its website states that the organization is “dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action.”[1] It has its headquarters in Washington D.C.[2] Its President and Chief Executive Officer is Neera Tanden, who worked for the Obama and Clinton administrations and for Hillary Clinton’s campaigns.[3] Its first President and Chief Executive Officer was John Podesta, who served as chief of staff to then U.S. President Bill Clinton. Podesta remains with the organization as Chairman of the Board. Located in Washington, D.C., the Center for American Progress has a campus outreach group, Campus Progress, and a sister advocacy organization, the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Citing Podesta’s influence in the formation of the Obama Administration, a November 2008 article in Time stated that “not since the Heritage Foundation helped guide Ronald Reagan’s transition in 1981 has a single outside group held so much sway.”[4]
Julio 24th, 2012 at 12:43
CNN: Details of crash that killed Cuban dissident disputed - By Patrick Oppmann,
Anti-government activists rarely are reported on by Cuba’s state-run media, except to call them “traitors” working in the employ of the U.S. government against their countrymen.
According to a statement about the crash issued by the Cuban government late Sunday, the unidentified driver of the car lost control and struck a tree near the eastern Cuban city of Bayamo.
On Sunday, Paya’s daughter, Rosa Maria Paya, told CNN that her family believed a second car had struck the vehicle her father was traveling in, forcing it off the road.
Cuban Harold Cepero also died from the crash. Two others were in the car, it said: Swedish citizen Aron Modig and Spaniard Angel Carromero, who suffered injuries from the impact.
Carromero, a technical adviser to the city of Madrid, received a gash on his head but he and Modig had been released from the hospital in Bayamo, said Francisco de Borja Morate Martin, a counselor in the Spanish Embassy in Havana.
Spain’s consul to Cuba had traveled to Bayamo to assist Carromero, who was being interviewed by Cuban police, Morate said.
It was not clear where the men where traveling when the crash took place. The two survivors’ testimony could be key to understanding how the crash occurred.
According to the Cuban government’s statement, the crash is under investigation by police.
CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE!
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07.....index.html
Julio 24th, 2012 at 12:24
FACEBOOK PHOTOS OF FUNERAL OF OSWALDO PAYA By Por el levantamiento popular en Cuba (Albums) & YOANI SANCHEZ
http://www.facebook.com/media/.....amp;type=1
Julio 24th, 2012 at 11:56
Freethinker81 !! I KNOW YOU ARE A “SANTO” SO DONT WORRY !!
SHORT VIDEO: ENTIERRO DE OSWALDO PAYA / FUNERAL OF OSWALDO PAYA - via Orlando Luis Pardo @OLPL
COPY AND PASTE LINK TO BROWSER TO SEE VIDEO!
twitpic.com/ab9fu3
Julio 24th, 2012 at 07:04
Ernesto, thank you.
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 23:21
Dear Ms. Yoani Sánchez, My name is Ernesto Angel Castro.
I was born in El Salvador and have lived thus far in North America for 25 years. Our brother in Christ now rests in Eternal, Everlasting Peace…Real rest and I am praying for his family and and his loved ones…A black hole of sadness grow in my heart more and more as I live on earth and hear of what has happened en La Cuba Linda and other countries that are denied spiritual freedom.
Learning about (What I read on this blog and online) how Oswaldo Payá lived his life has made me feel shame about myself; I am going to do something about it.
Voy a pintar la Verdad que vi en Cuba quando visite en Febrero de 2012!!!La verdad que trajo lagrimas a mi corazon pero tambien me iso sonreir, para que todo el mundo la vea Y la sienta tambien!
It will be so clear that an infant will be able to sense the beauty of the people and also the en-slavery Cuba is engulfed in and how it’s all going to end because Hope is omnipotent, because Hope is just a nickname for Love, and Love trumps all, and Love is just another name For the True King of Kings, Of Jesus Christ; all hearts will fell free, that is what I will paint for you and the people of Cuba, that is a promise I make to you Yoani.
I felt the spirit of the nation when I visited in February , it was too heavy for me to bear and I was scared to show my faith because I was warned to keep my mouth shut and not be a witness to Christ’s mercy.
I am allergic to politics…all politics, all I can say about that is:
I am not allergic or blind to suffering and oppression of any kind (Sometimes I wish I was)
I wrote on your blog as a show of support for you and your people, for everyone living in Cuba, everyone!!! Whether anyone believes it or not, whether they like it or not, the demons in the hearts of the leaders are to blame as well, for the lies they poison hearts with and, if you feel this, than fight!, Fight! Fight! Forgive! Forgive! Forgive! Show mercy in praying for your enemies, Show mercy in praying for your enemies!
Forgiveness and mercy, a way to change the world, if we want to! But we don’t…Because, me first, I cannot forgive, I say it and cannot, unless Christ is in me…Then forgiving feels like kissing a sister or brother…
God Bless Oswaldo, his family, you Yoani and everyone in Cuba and around the world that is not free…All will be redeemed, I pray for those who have hurt your country…
Sincerely Ms. Yoani Sánchez
Ernesto Angel Castro
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 21:47
I get it, Humberto. You don’t need to prove anything to me. Contrary to what you might think, I’m not here with some hidden agenda.
Back to the topic, though… What I don’t get is IF this was not an accident, why would the regime have waited so long to do him in? It seems really sloppy. Couldn’t they just left him to languish in a prison like so many other dissidents?
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 21:39
Freethinker81 !!! HERE IS ANOTHER LITTLE REMINDER!!
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Cuba must investigate beating and death of dissident - May 10, 2011
Cuba must immediately open an independent and impartial investigation into the death of a dissident that followed a public police beating, Amnesty International said today.
Former political prisoner Juan Wilfredo Soto died in hospital on Sunday in the Cuban city of Santa Clara, three days after he reported being beaten following his arrest by police officers in a park.
“The Cuban authorities need to immediately establish an independent inquiry into the causes of Juan Wilfredo Soto’s death. If he ultimately died as a result of a police beating in Park Vidal, those responsible must face justice,” said Javier Zuñiga, Special Advisor at Amnesty International.
The Cuban government has strongly denied its security forces played any role in Soto’s death. Hospital sources have reportedly stated he died from “acute pancreatitis”, a condition which can be triggered by abdominal trauma among other things.
Soto belonged to Foro Antitotalitario Unido, an organization led by prominent dissident Guillermo Fariñas, serving as the Secretary for Political Prisoners in Santa Clara. He had previously been imprisoned for 12 years for his dissenting activities.
According to Fariñas, on 5 May at around 9am, two national police officers approached Soto in Park Vidal, asked him for his ID and then asked him to leave the park. He refused to comply and protested verbally against the expulsion. He was allegedly cuffed with his hands behind his back, then beaten with batons because he continued to protest his arrest.
Soto was detained at a police station, then hospitalised that day. He was released from hospital the same afternoon only to return a day later to the intensive care unit, complaining of severe back pain. He died at the hospital on the night of Saturday to Sunday.
A local source told Amnesty International that he bumped into Soto as he was going to the hospital on 5 May. According to the source, upon meeting him, Soto said “I just got a beating in the park with batons and I’ve got a very sore back. These people killed me.” Soto’s pre-existing medical conditions included gout, hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular problems.
“There are too many unanswered questions. There needs to be a thorough investigation of what happened to Juan Wilfredo Soto in the park, at the police station, and at the hospital,” said Javier Zuñiga.
“We are particularly concerned by this case because it takes place against a backdrop of ongoing harassment, intimidation and arbitrary arrest of dissidents over the past few months, and increasing reports of beatings of dissidents by police.”
The Cuban authorities are continuing to stifle freedom of expression on the island in spite of a much-publicised recent wave of releases of prominent dissidents.
Soto engaged in street trading in and around the park Vidal, because his political activism had resulted in him losing his job as a construction worker according to Guillermo Fariñas. It is unclear whether the police officers initially asked him to leave the park because of his activism or his trading activities.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news.....2011-05-10
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 21:35
JUST TO REFRESH YOUR MEMORY Freethinker81 ! SO FAR, NOTHING FROM THE CASTROFASCISTS ON THIS REQUEST BY AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL!
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Cuban authorities ‘responsible’ for activist’s death on hunger strike - January 20, 2012
The death in custody of a Cuban prisoner of conscience after a hunger strike is a shocking reminder of the Raúl Castro government’s intolerance for dissent, Amnesty International said today.
Wilman Villar Mendoza, 31, died this morning in Juan Bruno Zayas Hospital in the city of Santiago where he was transferred from prison on 13 January due to health problems allegedly arising from a hunger strike protesting at his unfair trial and imprisonment.
He was serving a four-year prison term on charges related to his participation in a public demonstration against the government.
“The responsibility for Wilman Villar Mendoza’s death in custody lies squarely with the Cuban authorities, who summarily judged and jailed him for exercising his right to freedom of expression,” said Javier Zúñiga, Special Adviser at Amnesty International.
“His tragic death highlights the depths of despair faced by the other prisoners of conscience still languishing in Cuban jails, who must be released immediately and unconditionally.”
“The Cuban authorities must stop the harassment, persecution, and imprisonment of peaceful demonstrators as well as political and human rights activists.”
On 14 November 2011, police arrested Mendoza and eight other members of the Cuban Patriotic Union dissident group in the eastern town of Contramaestre for taking part in a protest against the Cuban government.
While he was in detention, police intimidated Mendoza, telling him he would be disappeared or face imprisonment on criminal charges stemming from an earlier arrest if he did not stop his protests and leave the dissident group.
He was released after three days in police custody but was then summoned to Contramaestre Municipal Tribunal on 24 November. Judges tried him in private and refused to accept testimony from his wife or other defence witnesses.
The judges sentenced the activist to four years’ imprisonment and immediately transferred him to Aguaderas prison, in the provincial capital Santiago. The same day, he began a hunger strike in protest at the ruling.
As Mendoza’s health deteriorated over recent days, members of the Cuban Patriotic Union and the Ladies in White opposition group organised a vigil outside the hospital. On 18 January, state security officials broke up the gathering and detained more than a dozen people.
Mendoza is not the first prisoner of conscience to die in Cuban custody.
Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a prisoner of conscience jailed after the “Black Spring” crackdown on opposition groups in March 2003, died in prison on 23 February 2010 after several weeks on hunger strike.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news.....2012-01-20
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 21:34
Thanks Yoani for the wonderful tribute to Oswaldo Paya. I’m continually amazed at your ability to find words to express yourself when most of us would be struck speechless by grief and loss.
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 21:31
Absolutely.
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 21:28
Freethinker81 said: “I was merely trying to show what Castro sympathisers are alleging. One should know all the arguments before coming to a conclusion, no?”
Freethinker81!! YOU CAN PUT YOUR CASE ANY OLD WAY YOU WANT! I WAS JUST MAKING SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT YOUR POST! SO YOU AGREE THAT AN INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL BODY SHOULD GO TO CUBA AND DO AN INVESTIGATION OSWALDO PAYA’S DEATH?? AND MAYBE WHILE AT IT THEY CAN INVESTIGATE AND INTERVIEW WITNESSES ON THE DEATHS OF Laura Pollan, Juan Wilfredo Soto, Wilmar Villar Mendoza & Orlando Zapata Tamayo!WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT??
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 21:10
Humberto, I wasn’t accusing anyone of anything. Admittedly, I should have made it clear that only the first two sentences were my own writing. I was copying someone else’s summarisation of the blog post. But way to jump to conclusions. I as much as anyone else find this case very suspicious, and hope that the facts are able to be publicised. Let me make it quite clear, I am not taking sides on this issue as I am not familiar with Mr. Paya’s work. I was merely trying to show what Castro sympathisers are alleging. One should know all the arguments before coming to a conclusion, no?
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 20:33
Freethinker81 said: “The essence of this article is that the two Europeans who’d rented the car that crashed, killing Oswaldo Paya and another Cuban right-wing activist, were members of right-wing anti-communist parties from Sweden and Spain.”
Freethinker81 !! CAN YOU GIVE US A LINK, IN ENGLISH TO BACK UP YOUR ACCUSATIONS OF THIS “RIGHT WING CUBAN ACTIVIST” HAROLD CEPERO?? YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE NO TACT NOR CREDIBLE LINKS TO BACK UP YOUR DEFAMATION ATTEMPTS NOW DO YOU?? EVEN IN SPANISH!!! SHAME ON YOU FOR BEATING UP THE LATE HAROLD CEPERO, A 32 YEAR OLD WHO WROTE THE FOLLOWING IN 2002 WHEN HE WAS HARASSED AND THREATENED TO BE KICKED OUT OF HAVANA UNIVERSITY WHICH EVENTUALLY HAPPENED!! HE WAS 22 YEARS OLD AT THE TIME WITH MORE GUTS AND CLASS THAN YOU WILL EVER HAVE!! SHAME, SHAME, SHAME ON YOU!
YOUR THINKING IS ANYTHING BUT FREE! MORE LIKE FREE DEFAMATION WILL TRAVEL!!
CARTA DE PROTESTA DE HAROLD CEPERO
Con todo el respeto y la sinceridad que ustedes merecen, creo que los argumentos sobran para nuestra defensa. Al parecer el motivo de este acto, o no sé cómo lo llaman, es nuestra mala actitud respecto a la política que hoy rige en nuestra patria. El otro, nuestra aprobación del Proyecto Varela.
Empezaré diciendo que dicho proyecto es un proyecto de ley firmado por más de once mil cubanos (electores) y recoge las necesidades fundamentales de nuestro pueblo. No sé por qué pretenden (ustedes que ahora tienen una situación privilegiada con respecto a nosotros y a los que piensan como nosotros) reprimir algo que no es motivo, ni tiene como origen el odio de las personas, sino la apertura, el respeto mutuo, el diálogo.
Ustedes desde su condición: estudiantes, profesores, PCC, UJC, etcétera, están violando la ley de la República. Están intentando pisotear nuestra dignidad, que merece, igual que la de ustedes, un reconocimiento y un estatus legal para desarrollarse a plenitud. Por eso me parece totalmente injusto lo que pretenden hacer. Esto es un atentado contra las leyes internacionales, la Constitución y más, contra nuestras personas.
El Proyecto Varela es totalmente legal y reconocido públicamente por Fidel Castro. Además, si lo apoyamos es porque lo creemos justo y me gustaría que ustedes lo consideraran. Las cosas que pedimos no excluyen a nadie, simplemente queremos un espacio (el que nos pertenece) en la vida social de Cuba.
Expulsarnos no es la solución ni para ustedes ni para nosotros, sería mejor preguntarse por qué hay jóvenes que llenan esta inquietud y se preocupan por el bienestar de la patria. Sería bueno que ustedes explicaran a los estudiantes y al pueblo qué es el Proyecto Varela, qué pide, y así dieran a todos el derecho de opinar y escoger.
Hoy nos echan de esta universidad por eso. Mañana puede ser a uno de ustedes por el solo hecho de ser diferente, por permitirse pensar.
Ustedes están queriendo perpetuar algo que no se sabe siquiera si es justo, y de este modo están negando el progreso de una sociedad que tiene ganas de algo nuevo, de algo que realmente garantice un lugar digno a cada cubano. Están presionando a personas o impidiendo que éstas expresen su verdadero sentir, están cultivando el miedo en la nación.
Con el pretexto de defender la libertad están atacándola. Martí lo diría así: “El puñal que se clava en nombre de la libertad se clava en el pecho de la libertad”. Deben pensar si en el fondo de su actitud hay un verdadero respeto a la libertad, porque decir libertad, ser libre, es no arrebatar a otros la libertad. Por eso les pido que antes de expulsarnos se pregunten hasta cuándo pueden mantener en luto y silencio la realidad de Cuba, y les recuerdo que el daño que nos puedan hacer es daño que se hacen ustedes. Y más: es una amenaza directa a cada cubano.
Los que roban a otros sus derechos se roban a sí mismos. Los que quitan y aplastan la libertad son los verdaderos esclavos.
http://cafefuerte.com/cuba/not…..cepero2002
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 19:32
Can anyone make sense of this? The original piece appears in this website:
http://www.contrainjerencia.com/?p=49519
This just doesn’t add up. It will be interesting to see how the story develops.
=============
The essence of this article is that the two Europeans who’d rented the car that crashed, killing Oswaldo Paya and another Cuban right-wing activist, were members of right-wing anti-communist parties from Sweden and Spain. Interestingly, the Swede, Jens Modig, belongs to the same party as the woman who is Julian Assange’s (Wikileaks) main accuser of having unprotected sex (a crime in Sweden). Anna Ardin also visited Cuba to support the US-financed “Ladies in White” group.
The Spaniard, who was driving the car when it crashed, also represents an extreme right-wing Party that is hostile to Cuba –and is well financed by the US embassy in Spain for doing so. Both Europeans — who walked away from the crash with no major injuries — came to Cuba on tourist visas, but said they were heading to Bayamo with Paya and his pal to make contact with the “Cuban opposition”. That has become a popular tourist activity for USAID-financed Europeans, apparently.
======================================
From: Jean-Guy Allard
To: Jean-Guy Allard
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2012 11:55 AM
Subject: Cuba: Representantes de partidos de derecha europeo acompañaban “disidente” en accidente fatal
JEAN-GUY ALLARD – El jefe de Liga de la Juventud Demócrata Cristiana (KDU) de Suecia, derecha anticomunista, Jens Aron Modig, y un representante del derechista Partido Popular español, Ángel Carromero, acompañaban a Oswaldo Payá en el momento del accidente de transito que costó la vida al “disidente” cubano, además del ciudadano cubano Harold Cepero Escalante.
Según la prensa cubana, los cuatro individuos viajaban en un auto de alquiler, ayer domingo a las 15.00 horas, cuando el conductor de éste – Carromero – “perdió el control y se impactó contra un árbol”. Mientras Paya y Cepero murieron en el impacto, Modig y Carromero ya recibieron el acta del hospital donde se les llevo.
El partido al cual está vinculado el grupo de Modig, el Partido Demócrata Cristiano, es una formación de derecha, muy comprometido con Estados Unidos. Acerca de Cuba, siempre ha adoptado posiciones hostiles, alineadas sobre el Departamento de Estado.
Casualmente, la principal acusadora de Julian Assange ante la justicia sueca pertenecía a este mismo grupo. Anna Ardin estuvo en la Isla, trabajando junto a las llamadas Damas de Blanco, financiadas por organizaciones subsidiadas por la USAID.
Carromero es vicesecretario general de Nuevas Generaciones del PP en Madrid. La organización colabora con frecuencia con la presidenta de la Comunidad de Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, de extrema derecha, asociada a la Embajada de EEUU, que subsidia anualmente con decenas de miles de euros grupusculos anticubanos de la capital española.
Modig y Carromero habían entrado con visa turística en Cuba antes de establecer contacto con Oswaldo Payá quién los guió hacia la oriental ciudad de Bayamo, a 750 kilómetros al este de La Habana.
Según la agencia española EFE “ambos querían aprovechar este desplazamiento para entablar contactos con la oposición cubana, si bien en el aeropuerto sólo dijeron que viajaban por motivos de turismo”.
En diciembre del 2008, el entonces presidente de Nuevas Generaciones del PP de Madrid, Pablo Casado, se jactaba en la prensa española de haber efectuado un viaje a La Habana para reunirse “de forma clandestina” con Oswaldo Payá y “representantes de las Damas de Blanco”.
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 15:21
THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE: Statement by the Press Secretary on the Death of Oswaldo Payá- The President’s thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Oswaldo Payá, a tireless champion for greater civic and human rights in Cuba. Payá gave decades of his life to the nonviolent struggle for freedom and democratic reform in Cuba as the head of the Christian Liberation Movement, the leader of the Varela Project, and through his role as a civil society activist. He remained optimistic until the end that the country he loved would see a peaceful and democratic transition. We continue to be inspired by Payá’s vision and dedication to a better future for Cuba, and believe that his example and moral leadership will endure. The United States will continue to support the Cuban people as they seek their fundamental human rights.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-.....swaldo-pay
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 12:56
Rest in peace Oswaldo Paya, Rest in peace FREEDOM FIGHTER!!!
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 12:20
PCC has a facebook page? Isn’t that a bit too yanqui capitalist for them? Can I write a column for Granma?
I saw the photos Humberto, let’s wait and see what they do next. Normally a driver of tourist car that gets in a serious accident is in deep s__t, let’s see what happens.
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 11:50
THE LINK BELOW IS OF THE CUBAN COMMUNIST PARTY (PCC) FACEBOOK PAGE! IT SHOWS THE SAME PICTURE THAT WAS SHOWN ON THE CUBAN BLOG SPOT “FANAL CUBANO” DATED 6/14/2012 !! THE CASTROFASCISTS ARE VERY SLOPPY AND THEY THINK THAT THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH MURDER!
FOTO DE ACCIDENTE USADA PARA IDENTIFICAR EL “ACCIDENTE” DE OSWALDO PAYA EN EL FACEBOOK DEL PCC! ES LA MISMA FOTO DE FECHA 6/14/2012 DEL BLOG “FANAL CUBANO”! PHOTO OF AN ACCIDENT TO IDENTIFY THE “ACCIDENT” OF OSWASDO PAYA IN FACEBOOK PAGE OF THE PCC (Cuban Communist Party)! IS THE SAME PICTURE DATED 6/14/2012 ON THE BLOG “FANAL CUBANO”!
FACEBOOK: Partido Comunista De Cuba 7/22/2012 @ 9:44 pm - Pacific Standard Time- PCC - Dos personas fallecen en lamentable accidente de tránsito en la provincia Granma…
Un lamentable accidente del tránsito en el que fallecieron dos personas y dos resultaron heridas, se produjo este domingo 22 de julio a las 13:50 horas en la localidad conocida como La Gavina, a 22 Km de la ciudad de Bayamo, provincia Granma.
Según testigos presenciales, el hecho ocurrió cuando el conductor de un auto turístico rentado, perdió el control y se impactó contra un árbol.
http://www.facebook.com/ElPart.....CheGuevara
Julio 23rd, 2012 at 11:49
PROOF THAT THE CASTROFASCISTS ARE LYING AND TRYING TO COVER UP THE REAL DETAILS (and real pictures) OF THE “ACCIDENT” THAT CAUSED THE DEATH OF OSWALDO PAYA! BELOW IS THE LINK TO A BLOG POST OF AN ACCIDENT IN THE CITY OF CIENFUEGOS, ON THE SOUTH/WEST PORTION OF CUBA. THE DATE OF THE PICTURES IS 6/14/2012! THIS IS THE SAME PICTURE BEIGN CIRCULATED IN THE CUBAN COMMUNIST PARTY (PCC) FACEBOOK PAGE AS THE “ACCIDENT” PICTURE! CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELVES BEFORE THEY CHANGE IT OR ERASE THEM! I HAVE PHOTOS OF THE SCREENS FOR EACH SITE SO ITS ALL RECORDED. YOU CAN ALSO SEE THEM ON THE FACEBOOK PAGES “Cubans in Facebook” “Cuba” or “Apoyamos a Yoani Sanchez/We support Yoani Sanchez” WHERE I POSTED BOTH SCREEN SHOT PHOTOS WITH EXPLANATION!
FOTO DE ACCIDENTE USADA PARA IDENTIFICAR EL “ACCIDENT” DE OSWALDO PAYA! ES LA MISMA FOTO DE FECHA 6/14/2012! PHOTO OF AN ACCIDENT TO IDENTIFY THE “ACCIDENT” OF OSWASDO PAYA! IS THE SAME PICTURE DATED 6/14/2012!
FANAL CUBANO: JUEVES, 14 DE JUNIO DE 2012 - Tres fallecidos en accidente de tránsito en Cienfuegos (+ Fotos) - Tres personas murieron esta tarde y otra resultó con lesiones graves, como resultado del impacto frontal entre un auto Fiat-pickup estatal (donde viajaban las personas que resultaron occisas y la lesionada) y una camioneta particular marca Ford del año 1958, en un punto a unos 300 metros entre la barriada de Paraíso, a la salida de la ciudad, y el entronque con la avenida Simón Bolívar que conduce a la refinería de petróleo.
Según testigos del lamentable accidente, el auto chapa FSB 279, perteneciente a la Cadena Cubana del Pan en Cienfuegos, invadió sin motivo aparente la senda por donde transitaba la camioneta, contra la cual se proyectó. A resultas de la colisión perecieron en el acto los ciudadanos Félix René Cordero Requeira, Eduardo Velázquez Bernia y Manuel Muñoz Muñoz, todos directivos de la citada entidad; mientras Danilo Morejón Díaz recibió lesiones graves.
Las autoridades competentes investigan las causas de este lamentable hecho, cuyas conclusiones serán informadas oportunamente.
Con estos tres fallecidos suman hasta la fecha 19 las muertes provocadas por accidentes del tránsito en la central provincia de Cienfuegos, una menos que todas las registradas el pasado año cuando aún no han transcurrido siquiera los seis primeros meses del actual 2012. Se trata además del segundo hecho de carácter masivo, que tipifica a aquellos donde tres o más personas pierden la vida.
http://fanalcubano.blogspot.co.....l?spref=fb