Cuban dissidents detained for promoting human rights

Havana, Cuba, Dec 13, 2010 / 15:51 pm

The coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Paya, has denounced the Cuban government for detaining two dissidents late last week.

In a Dec. 10 statement, Paya stated that both José Ramón Remedio Rojas and Reinaldo Cruz Velásquez were violently detained Dec. 9 by state security agents. Both dissidents were working to promote the Heredia Project in the province of Las Tunas.

The Heredia Project aims to recover the rights of Cubans to travel freely within the country as well as abroad.

Rojas was detained while buying milk rations for his elderly mother, while Velasquez was detained at a bus stop.  Their whereabouts are unknown.

Paya said the repression against those promoting the Heredia Project “has spread to the entire country,” as government officials do not want the initiative to move forward, despite being based on “constitutional and human rights.”

Paya criticized the Cuban government for speaking of changes on the one hand, but “acting brutally” against human rights initiatives on the other.  He also reproached the governments of Europe and America for their silence and refusal to condemn the abuses of the Cuban government.

“Neither the regime’s repression, neglect nor growing conspiracy of lies our people are now suffering will stop us from fighting for freedom and the rights of Cubans,” Paya said.