
A group of dissidents from the Cuban Reflection Movement have managed to meet this Saturday, December 29th, in Camajuani, Villa Clara to bid farewell to 2012 and to launch their independent magazine “Cuban Messenger X“.
Librado Linares Garcia, a former political prisoner from the group of the 75 and the general secretary of the Movement, said he felt very satisfied to see that the group of activists managed to arrive to his home, despite the presence of the political police outside. “In the meeting, there is a representation of the different delegations which exist of the Movement in other municipalities and provinces“, explained Linares, “In reality, this end of the year encounter also serves as a projection of the future“.
In regards to the “Cuban Messenger X” magazine, Linares Garcia says that it has been launched digitally for several weeks now, meaning that it has been published online in PDF format. In this reunion, the magazine was being taken to the public in its print version. The dissident leader recounted that “the magazine has had a positive acceptance from the people, and I think it will mark the behavior of the Movement and of the opposition in general in the central region of the country. It will be a means by which we will communicate with the rest of the population“.
2012 has seen a sharp increase in the production of magazines, bulletins, and independent newspapers, both in digital media and in print, by dissident groups, activists, writers, and other sectors of civil society.
Each Saturday, the Cuban Reflection Movement tries to meet in different municipalities and cities of the central provinces to carry out public pro-freedom demonstrations, carry out debates, vigils, or other civic activities. For the most part, these encounters are met with aggressive actions by the political police, who beat, detain and/or deport the activists, as can be seen in this video. However, the Movement always manages to carry out some sort of activity. This Saturday 29th, many of its members were able to come together for a moment of celebration and activism, despite the fact that a number of police agents were keeping watch over the home.
The following video, although not in the best of quality, captures the moment of Saturday’s encounter. It was sent by Maydelis Gonzalez Almeida, a renown activist of the Movement who, despite countless arrests, continues carrying out her activism on the streets of Cuba. The activists are proudly shouting “Cuban Reflection Movement” in the short clip: