Cuban authorities arrest pregnant dissident

Havana, Cuba, Mar 25, 2009 / 10:26 am

The president of the Central Opposition Coalition in Cuba, Idania Yanes Contreras, was detained last weekend by Cuban agents despite the fact that she is seven months pregnant. At the time of her arrest she was attempting to learn the whereabouts of her husband, Alcides Rivera Rodriguez, who was arrested as he left his home to meet with dissidents in the town of Placetas.

According to Cubaencuentro.com, Yanes Contreras was detained as she and other activists went to police headquarters to ask about her husband.  After being told that he would be held until further notice from upper-level officials, Yanes Contreras and her companions decided to wait outside the building, at which point they were arrested for “disturbing the peace.”

Over the next few days several of her companions were released, but Yanes Contreras remains in detention. Captain Hector de la Fe Freyre told the opposition website that she was taken to a state security center that is closer to one of the local hospitals.

Cubaencuentro.com reported that according to officials, she is being accused of “damaging Socialist property” for allegedly breaking a window at the state security center.

The website asserted that the detentions are an attempt by the Castro regime to deflect attention away from a hunger strike being carried out by dissidents in Placetas.