Update: Luis Felipe reports about his detention this past Saturday, his house currently being surrounded, and more (Text)

Here is the text of a declaration from Luis Felipe Rojas, made just a few minutes ago to this blog, where he reports a detention he suffered this past Saturday May 21st and his current situation where various political police agents are surrounding his house.

In the clip he also narrates a beating carried out against various other dissidents this weekend.

His (translated) text:

“On Saturday May 21st at around 2 in the afternoon, together with Isael Poveda and Rolando Rodriguez Lobaina, the general coordinator of the Eastern Democratic Alliance, I was detained in Puerto Padre and taken to the police unit of Vazquez- a municipality between Puerto Padre and Las Tunas. We were kept detained there for 2 and a half hours, nearly 3 hours. They asked for our identification, and a while after they released us without any charges and there was not an interrogation. It seems as if it was a control measure because we were traveling through the Eastern provinces for work purposes and I was accompanying the other two activists as an independent journalist in order to report later. After wards on that day, we had no other problems.

However, today, May 23rd, I awoke with my house surrounded by members of the political police, headed by Lieutenant Saul Vega and a Major who claimed to be called Charlie and who also claims to be chief of an operational group of 3 municipalities out of which one is San German, where I live, located just 34 kilometers from Holguin. I suppose that this measure is being taken because the Boitel-Zapata protest concludes the day after tomorrow, and it is being celebrated not only in the Eastern provinces but throughout the country. They are trying to avoid any sort of further protests. Up to now, they have not come to my house to tell me about any sort of restrictions of movement, but according to how they usually act it seems like they are restricting me. I’m here in my house. I am working. I’m a journalist, an intellectual. I’m writing and studying here in my house as I do everyday. And I will try to continue to report what is occurring.

I know that on Thursday there was a horrible beating carried out against Angie Sangel Romero, her son, her daughter-in-law, and her husband. The four of them were beaten in Moa on Thursday while they were protesting outside their house because they had just thrown paint on their house and they came out to defend themselves. And, along with me under the same case of restriction of freedom and movement is Jose Antonio Triguero, the Coordinator of the Liberal Party of Cuba in the Eastern provinces. He is also restricted to his house.

I supposed that this is currently happening to various other activists. We will continue protesting and fighting. I will not stop taking to the streets as I do everyday and I will not stop participating in any protest against the regime“.

I also recommend Luis Felipe’s most recent post where he narrates the beatings given to another group of defenseless, but brave, women: The Lie of Lies