As has been reported through various media outlets, this past Saturday June 8th dissident Werlando Leyva Batista, a member of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) in the Eastern province of Holguin, was attacked with a machete by a paramilitary agent known as Amaury, hailing from “El Martillo” neighborhood.
In an audio published by MCL on their YouTube account, Leyva Batista recounts that the aggressions against him are due to his work “promoting ‘The Path of the People’ and working towards freedom”. The majority of the injuries he obtained after the attack are on his hand and his thigh, though he assures that the objective of the aggressor was to assassinate him. Leyva Batista provided further details in another audio published by ‘Radio Republica’Now, during the dawn hours of this June 12th, various activists from diverse pro-freedom groups displayed their solidarity with Werlando in the Lenin Hospital of Holguin where he has been checked in. The dissidents received threats for their gestures of solidarity. Independent journalist and Holguin native Alexei Jimenez Almarales sent the following report from the island:
“More than 10 dissidents were threatened on the morning of June 12th for standing in front of the Lenin Hospital in the city of Holguin.
These human rights activists were showing solidarity with MCL activist Werlando Leyva Batista who received two machete blows three days ago. They are at the Hospital under threats of being detained, as authorities have said they will call the police.
Those present are:
Yoel Ordeñe Garrotiza, Yonis Leon Abarta, Osnai Pérez Matinés, Luis Quintana, Julio Cesar Ramos Cúrvelo, Juan Carlos Iznaga Santisteban, Denis Pino Basulto, Liliana Campos Buzón, Robier Cruz Campo, Madelaine Escobar Barseló, Juan Carlos Reyes Ocaña, Jorge Taylor y Daniel Rodrigué Osorio”.
The pro-freedom MCL, as well as the Cuban opposition in general, has denounced the increase of repression against activists. The past few months have seen the increase of death threats, persecution, arbitrary arrests, acts of repudiation and spontaneous beatings at the hands of the political police apparatus. However, everything indicates that as these repressive measures increase, so too does solidarity amongst activists, regardless of the groups they belong to, something which greatly worries the dictatorship.
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For more information from Cuba, contactar:
Alexei Jiménez Almarales – Cell Phone: +52-552-925 / Twitter: @jugandomelavida
Pedazos de la Isla 