Gandhi King Payá Season for Nonviolence: January 30 - July 22

Gandhi King Payá Season for Nonviolence: January 30 - July 22

174 days to honor three icons of nonviolent resistance with the dates of their assassinations marking the start, midpoint and end of a series of events and exercises. Inspired by the 64 day Season for Nonviolence initiated by Dr. Arun Gandhi in 1988 and continued to the present day this event will focus on three icons of nonviolence who were martyred: Mohandas Gandhi on January 30, 1948, Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968 and  Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas on July 22, 2012. Each left behind a body of writings and a lifetime of activism that still inspire today. This effort falls within the guidelines of the 64 day Season for Nonviolence:

"The Season for Nonviolence represents a successful new model called, 'omni - local' conscious action: 'Engaging large numbers of self - empowered leaders and groups in a collective intention, supplied with strategic sharable tools, adding their own local resources to work globally with singular purpose.'"

Beginning on January 30, 2014 with this announcement we will focus on a number of actions that span the physical, the psychological and the spiritual. Dates that will involve concrete actions are the following:

January 30 - 66 year observance of the killing of Mohandas Gandhi

February 23 - Four year observance of the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo on Hunger Strike

February 24 - 18 year observance of the killings of four members of Brothers to the Rescue

April 4 - 46 year observance of the killing of Martin Luther King Jr.

May 8 - Three year observance of the killing of Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia

May 25 - 42 year observance of the death of Pedro Luis Boitel on hunger strike

July 13 - 20 year observance of the "13 de Marzo" Tugboat sinking that killed 37

July 22 - Two year observance of the killings of Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, and Harold Cepero Escalante

The Objectives 

Our objective is to create an awareness of nonviolent principles and practice as a powerful way to heal, transform and empower our lives and community. Through an educational and community action campaign, we will recognize those who have and are using nonviolence to build a community that honors the dignity and worth of every human being. By identifying “what works” in these new models for reconciliation and human harmony, this effort will demonstrate that every person can move the world in the direction of peace through their daily nonviolent choice and action.

The Vision

The Gandhi - King - Payá Season for Nonviolence 

As a human family we are asking the question: “How can any act of violence be recognized as a solution to the consequences of violence that we face today?” Violent actions and reactions are t he scars of social, educational, and economic wounds... the voices of a spiritually inarticulate culture. The practice of nonviolence is initiated by choice and cultivated through agreement. The time has come to agree upon this as a global community as if our lives, and those of our children’s children, depended on it. Our vision is of a better world for all human beings. To this end, we undertake the “Gandhi - King Payá Season for Nonviolence” by applying our efforts and resources to identifying, then bringing focus to the spectrum of grassroots projects and programs by individuals and organizations who are pro - actualizing a peaceful social order.


Day 1 of the 174 Days of Gandhi King Payá 

Watch the following to videos related to Mohandas Gandhi. The first recorded in 1931 was the first interview given on camera to Mohandas Gandhi. The second video is a biography of the non-violent Indian icon. The final video is in Spanish and is by Sara Marta Fonseca, a recently exiled Cuban dissident and she speaks about the importance of Gandhi for activists in Cuba.

 Mohandas Gandhi interviewed in 1931

 Gandhi biography: Pilgrim of Peace

Sara Marta Fonseca speaks about the legacy of Mohandas Gandhi

Cuba 2014: Why this year is important

Despite heightened violence and repression Cubans are losing their fear

20 years ago on July 13, 1994 they were massacred by the Castro regime

The dictatorship in Cuba wants everyone to believe that 2014 is important because CELAC is being held in Havana but discerning people know better. 2014 will be important for a number of reasons. At the same time state security is engaged in a massive crackdown rounding up and threatening dissidents in an effort to maintain monopoly control. The Cuban government's body count continues to rise despite its apologists claims that it is reforming. This is nothing new.

Brothers to the Rescue martyrs murdered in act of state terrorism on February 24, 1996

 Less than a month from now, February 23rd will mark four years to the day that Cuban prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo died on hunger strike defending human rights and dignity. February 24th will mark the eighteen years since the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown where Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario De La Peña, and Armando Alejandre were blown out of the sky on orders of the Castro brothers while engaged in the search and rescue of Cuban rafters in international airspace in what was an act of state terrorism.

Died on hunger strike on February 23, 2010

2014 is also the 20th anniversary of the "13 de Marzo" tugboat masssacre off the coast of Havana where 37 men, women and children were murdered by agents of the Castro regime for wanting to flee the country on July 13, 1994.

Died under suspicious circumstances on July 22, 2012

 July 22 will mark two years since Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante were killed under suspicious circumstances. Relatives and friends continue to demand an international investigation to clear up the circumstances of their deaths.

 The Free Cuba Foundation has and will continue to call for nonviolent actions to demand justice and remember the dear departed.

This year is the 50th anniversary of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s December 11, 1964 Nobel Peace Prize Lecture that is required reading for advocates of nonviolence and resistance to injustice. Reverend King is a figure that inspired and continues to inspire Cuban dissidents to take action against injustice using nonviolent means.

Unfortunately, as the dictatorship engages in its distractions and those who should know better grant it a legitimacy that is not warranted, another man, Marcelino Abreu unjustly imprisoned, is dying on hunger strike. Let us pray that he survives this ordeal. Despite the media makeover to the contrary the human rights situation in Cuba remains dismal as revealed in Human Rights Watch's 2014 report on Cuba.

Despite the extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, death threats, and physical assaults Cubans are losing their fear and demanding that their rights be respected. On January 21, 2014 in the morning hours hundreds of Cubans took to the street in Holguin which is located in Eastern Cuba to protest against the confiscation of their household goods by government officials.

How the Castros stole Christmas in Cuba

Reports over the past three years demonstrate a pattern of repression during Christmas in Cuba that should raise concern. The latest involve children physically assaulted and toys seized by the political police to prevent them being given to children on Three Kings Day. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the Free Cuba Foundation has had to address the issue. Back in 2000 we held a press conference to protest the seizure of toys and clothing for Cuban children and also the beating and arrest of Cuban dissident Victor Rolando Arroyo who was storing the toys and clothes. Below is the statement that Free Cuba Foundation released at the time. Sadly, things haven't improved since then. Victor was imprisoned on March 18, 2003 and sentenced to 26 years in prison. Recognized as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International and spent nearly the next 8 years in prison only to trade prison in Cuba for exile in Spain.

Victor Rolando Arroyo

Free Arroyo and Return the Toys

Free Cuba Foundation, January 18, 2000

The Free Cuba Foundation held a press conference January 17 at 11:30am at the Graham Center west wall located on the University Park Campus at Florida International University denouncing the Cuban government's Scrooge-like arrest and prosecution of Victor Rolando Arroyo for gathering and distributing toys to poor Cuban children.

"If the Cuban government claims that they have mobilized the Cuban people out of the humanitarian motive that a boy be reunited with his father, then how can it explain impeding toys obtained legally in Cuba for distribution to economically disadvantaged children?" asks John Suarez of the Free Cuba Foundation. "Free Arroyo and return the toys and clothing so that they can be distributed to those in need," concludes Mr. Suarez.

Last Saturday Victor Rolando Arroyo's residence was searched by State Security and 150 toys were confiscated, and he was immediately arrested. He had already distributed over a 100 toys, and his home was being used as a distribution center in Pinar del Rio for The Millenium's Three Wise Men Project. A project initiated in Cuba by the Cuban non-governmental organization Corriente Martiana. Arroyo was tried on Friday and sentenced to 6 months in prison for "hoarding toys."

"Victor Rolando Arroyo will spend 6 months in prison for gathering and distributing toys to poor children in Cuba according to a Havana court if we do nothing," declared Xavier Utset. Arroyo has 72 hours to appeal and they run out this afternoon at 3pm. "It's both ironic and sad that on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the year 2000 we have to be defending the right of a man to engage in acts of charity without being imprisoned," said John Suarez.

The Free Cuba Foundation, an FIU student based organization, gathered toys, and clothing for The Millenium's Three Wise Men Project. For additional background information on the organization and the project visit http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf.

Attached is the declaration read by Mr. Suarez in English. Xavier Utset read it in Spanish.

FREE ARROYO AND RETURN THE TOYS

Press Conference

Free Cuba Foundation
Monday, January 17, 2000

This statement is not a political statement, nor was our participation in The Millenium's Three Wise Men Project remotely political. We are here today to demand that Víctor Rolando Arroyo be released, and that the toys confiscated by Cuban State Security be returned to him so that they can be finally delivered to the poor children of Pinar del Rio in Cuba. We believe that interactions between the Cuban people can and must transcend politics. That is why we as individuals, and as an organization embarked on supporting this project initiated in Cuba by the civic group Corriente Martiana.
In Cuba it is almost impossible for families without hard currency to buy toys and gifts for their children. Corriente Martiana initiated a national and international campaign to collect toys and clothing and distribute them to the neediest children on the Day of the Three Wise Men which is traditionally January 6. The aims of Corriente Martiana (which we share) in carrying out this project are the following:

First - To provide a moment of happiness to the neediest children and families in each community, without discrimination of any kind, by distributing the gifts that may be collected through charity.

Second - To foster evangelization by enclosing a message explaining the significance of that day according to Holy Scripture and Cuban cultural and religious traditions.

Third - To revitalize a traditional feast day in our culture.

What we say today echoes the declarations made by Corriente Martiana in Cuba on January 10. We call to reason, justice, and the law to prevail in this case, and that the confiscated toys be returned to the city of Pinar del Rio and that the 6 month prison sentence leveled against Víctor Rolando Arroyo be dismissed. Finally, that these toys be delivered to the poor children without any political taint.
If the government claims that they have mobilized the Cuban people out of humanitarian motives for the sole purpose that a boy be reunited with his father, then how can it explain impeding toys obtained legally in Cuba for distribution to economically disadvantaged children?

According to Prof. Moisés Leonardo Rodríguez Valdés, of Corriente Martiana the days leading up to January 6 toys and clothing were distributed in the towns of Bahía Honda, Cabañas, Guanajay and El Cano, without incident but the evangelization was limited due to a lack of equipment to reproduce the evangelical message on paper.

The arrest and trial of Arroyo, and the confiscation of over 140 toys in Pinar del Rio was the exception. We demand that justice be done. That an act of charity, by people of goodwill on both sides of the Florida Straits, not end in such an ugly manner. Imprisonment for an innocent man and children denied toys on the Day of the Three Wise Men. Free Arroyo and return the toys and clothing so that they can be distributed to those in need.

El día de los derechos humanos en Cuba 2013

Brutal ofensiva represiva en Cuba

Voces y Imagenes Sobre El día de los derechos humanos en Cuba 2013 


Imagenes desde Cuba en la calle


Voces opositores

Protestas, golpes, arrestos, allanamientos de viviendas y otras medidas represivas durante actividades del

Día Internacional de los Derechos Humanos en Cuba

                                             

por el Directorio Democratico Cubano

CUBA, 10 de diciembre del 2013. En el Día Internacional de los Derechos Humanos en Cuba,  activistas en la resistencia a lo largo y ancho de la Cuba han reportado al Directorio Democrático Cubano sobre la gran cantidad de golpizas, arrestos, allanamientos de casas, amenazas de que ha sido objeto desde el pasado fin de semana hasta la fecha,  por parte del régimen castrista, para acallar las protestas y actividades en conmemoración de esta fecha y que no pudieron silenciar a pesar de la brutal represión.

“Queremos decirle al mundo democrático que donde quiera que estuvo un activista de los derechos humanos, en toda mazmorra y calabozo que estos esbirros nos meten, nosotros celebramos el Día Internacional de los Derechos Humanos y lo celebramos con orgullo porque nuestras ideas, pensamiento y resistencia no se encarcelan”,dijo José Díaz Silva, Presidente del Movimiento Opositor por Una Nueva República y  Coordinador del Frente Nacional de Resistencia Cívica Orlando Zapata Tamayo desde Boyeros, La Habana.

A continuación una relación de los hechos hasta ahora reportados de actividades y represión:

Actividades y denuncias

Día Internacional de Derechos  Humanos en Cuba

10 de diciembre del 2013

Santa Clara, Villa Clara-Informa Carlos Michael Morales Rodríguez miembros de la Coalición Central Opositora Frente Nacional de Resistencia Cívica y Desobediencia Civil Orlando Zapata Tamayo que esta tarde Yoel Bravo López y Maikel Mena Rivalta activista de dicha coalición se presentaron frente a la vivienda de Damaris Moya Portieles y regaron propaganda antigubernamentales, fueron arrestados y golpeados por varios militares. http://youtu.be/yv-tOoXY5EU

La Habana- Convocatoria a plantón-Sara Marta Fonseca Quevedo representante en función del Frente Nacional de Resistencia Cívica y Desobediencia Civil Orlando Zapata Tamayo acaba de convocar a un plantón nacional exigiendo la inmediata liberación de todos los detenidos. http://youtu.be/t4wVEcj7g2s

La Habana, detenidos y desaparecidos- Jose Diaz Silva Presidente del Movimiento Opositor por Una Nueva República y  Coordinador del Frente Nacional de Resistencia Cívica Orlando Zapata Tamayo denuncio la detencion y sin paradero conocido de los activistas:  Mario Alberto Hernandez Leiva de Santiago de las Vegas, Lazaro Perez Gonzalez, Luis Jesus Gutierres Campos y Jose Alberto Morera Lafita de Calabazar

Velazco, Holguin-Lanzan gases a  activistas- La activista Damaris García, del Frente Nacional de Resistencia OZT, ofrece su testimonio de un violento ataque policial a su vivienda en Velasco, Holguín este 10 de diciembre, Día de los Derechos Humanos. Efectivos lanzaron gases dentro de la vivienda donde estaban reunidos varios activistas, al igual que una anciana y el hijo menor de edad de Damaris quien tiene serios problemas de salud. El pequeño se asfixio y aun sigue con complicaciones. Escuchen a Damaris en este audio. http://youtu.be/5pHSXQdog24

Camajuani, Villa Clara –Varias actividades por el Dia de los Derechos Humanos -El líder del Movimiento Cubano Reflexión y ex preso político Librado Linares García ofrece un resumen de actividades realizadas por dicha agrupación como parte de la Jornada por los Derechos Humanos en Cuba. http://youtu.be/3pEQGgyKGpo

Camaguey- Actividades Santos Manuel Fernández, del Partido Pro Derechos Humanos y del del Frente Nacional de Resistencia OZT, detalla actividad siendo realizada en Camaguey por el Día de los Derechos Humanos. http://youtu.be/VAAPkbRQXBA

Cárdenas, Matanzas- Detenciones -Leticia Ramos, representante de las Damas de Blanco en la provincia de Matanzas, reporta varias detenciones de mujeres en dicha provincia este Día de los Derechos Humanos. http://youtu.be/vlFTssN_Hn4

Grúa Nueva, Ciego de Avila-Maday Franco, del Movimiento Rosa Parks y Frente Nacional de Resistencia OZT informa que activistas en Grúa Nueva, Ciego de Ávila están reunidos realizando actividades a favor de los derechos humanos. http://youtu.be/_PnO416jS4s

La Habana- Plantón por detenciones- Informa Barbara Recalde, del Frente Nacional de Resistencia Cívica Orlando Zapata Tamayo y Dama de Blanco informa que han hecho un planto frente al Vivac donde estan detenido su esposo Hugo Damian Prieto Blanco y  varios activistas por el conmemorar el Día Internacional de los  Derechos Humanos: Dayan Gomez, Hernandez, lazaro Mendoza Garcia, Enrique Diaz Rodriguez, Damaris Reves Rodriguez, Henry Frei Rodriguez, Francisco Sanz, Luis Andres Dominguez, Vladimir Paez, Maria Rosa Rodriguez, Rolando Reyes,Oilin Hernandez Rodriguez, Guillermo Feria, Andres Avelines, Aliuska Gomez, Mariol Rodriguez Miranda, Luis Manuel Fumero, Jose Antonio Pompa, Ana Nilda Molina, Arleti Prinet,

Velazco, Holguin- El opositor Ramón Zamora, del Frente OZT, denuncia actos violentos ocurridos este Día de Derechos Humanos contra activistas reunidos en Velazco, Holguín. http://youtu.be/0uDa-wv_teU

Santa Clara, Villa Clara- Donaida Perez, del Movimiento Rosa Parks y el Frente de Resistencia OZT, lee un comunicado desde Placetas, Villa Clara, reiterando el compromiso de dicha organización con la lucha por los derechos humanos en la isla. http://youtu.be/J2RPgcyVSEA

Bayamo, Granma-Arrestos Félix Rivero denuncia los arrestos de miembros del Movimiento Jóvenes de Bayamo, entre ellos el presidente del grupo Yoandri Montoya Aviles. Dia de los Derechos Humanos 2013. http://youtu.be/QlS6FA2NNq8

Santa Clara –Marcha por los Derechos Humanos -Integrantes de la Coalición Central Opositora y Frente Nacional de Resistencia OZT  salieron a la calle en Santa Clara, Villa Clara para realizar una protesta a favor de los derechos humanos cuando fueron interceptados por policías y arrestados con violencia. En este audio, Damaris Moya, presidenta de la CCO, narra la protesta hasta el momento de la detención. http://youtu.be/JvhLXNCG0gU

Pinar del Rio- Reunión Día de Derechos Humanos Armando Peraza, del Movimiento Cubano de Jóvenes por la Democracia, informa que activistas están reunidos celebrando el día de los Derechos Humanos en el poblado de López Peña, en Pinar del Río. http://youtu.be/ouUvf2zjFxk

Baracoa, Guantánamo-Arrestos- Francisco Luis Manzanet, del Movimiento Opositor Juan Pablo II, denuncia el arresto de varios activistas en Baracoa por repartir copias del Proyecto Emilia, iniciativa que busca cambio y libertad para Cuba. Además, Manzanet habla sobre los Derechos Humanos en Cuba en este audio. Enlace a audio: http://youtu.be/uuPS0Zuylvk

Camagüey- Reunión Día de Derechos Humanos-Yordan Marrero, del Partido Cubano Demócrata Cristiano, informa que varios activistas están reunidos en su vivienda en Camagüey para celebrar el Día de los Derechos Humanos, a pesar de operativos policiales. El opositor aprovecha y envía un mensaje al pueblo cubano. Enlace a audio: http://youtu.be/lvXlwb3Cqrk

Banes, Holguín- Actividad-Delvis Martínez, de la Alianza Democrática Oriental, informa que un grupo de activistas están reunidos en la vivienda de Rafael Meneses en Banes, Holguín realizando un debate sobre los derechos humanos en Cuba y en el mundo, a pesar de que el domicilio esta rodeado por la policía política quienes amenazan a los presentes. Los detalles en el audio: http://youtu.be/E5tywU3Nv18

La Habana –Actividad Sara Marta Fonseca Quevedo, del Partido Pro Derechos Humanos de Cuba y del Frente Nacional de Resistencia OZT, detalla actividad que varios opositores están llevando a cabo en Boyeros, La Habana exigiendo el respeto a los derechos humanos en la isla. Los detalles en el audio: http://youtu.be/Rix4mT9NtoA

Sancti Spiritus-Varios arrestos- Segundo Rey Cabrera González, líder del Comité Cubano pro Derechos Humanos de Cuba en Sancti Spiritus, denuncia que varios miembros de dicha organización han sido arrestados con violencia por la policía política por tratar de llegar a su vivienda para realizar un encuentro sobre los derechos humanos este 10 de diciembre. Los detalles en el audio: http://youtu.be/WskSljr69Qo

Banes, Holguín-Reunión  Día de Derechos Humanos- La opositora Gertrudis Ojeda Suárez, de la Alianza Democrática Oriental, informa que activistas están reunidos en su vivienda en Banes, Holguín a pesar de que el régimen ha organizado un acto de repudio en contra de los mismos. A pesar de las amenazas, los activistas presentes han continuado con su actividad celebrando el Día Internacional de los Derechos Humanos. Enlace audio: http://youtu.be/KmtDMaOSmpw

Buenaventura, Holguín- Marcha a favor de derechos humanos-Delmides Fidalgo López, de la Alianza Democrática Oriental, informa que miembros de dicha organización salieron en una marcha a favor de los Derechos Humanos en Buenaventura, Holguín, además exigiendo la liberación de todos los presos políticos. Los detalles en el audio.

Santiago de las Vegas, Arrestos-Denuncia la activista Lourdes Esquivel, del Movimiento Opositores por Una Nueva Republica, que su esposo José Díaz Silva y otros opositores han sido detenido y no se conoce el paradero de los mismos. Los arrestos ocurrieron para impedir que llegaran a un encuentro sobre los Derechos Humanos en la vivienda del activista Antonio Rodiles, organizador de Estado de Sats. Enlace: http://youtu.be/DYdLxrSl5Do

Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba- Misael Valdés Díaz, del Frente Nacional de Resistencia OZT en Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba, reporta que activistas han repartido copias de la Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos a ciudadanos, quienes las han recibido de forma positiva. Los detalles en el audio: http://youtu.be/32p06ryjM08

Caibarien, Villa Clara- Atacan vivienda de opositor- En horas de la madrugada del Día Mundial de los Derechos Humanos, paramilitares del régimen cubano atacaron la vivienda del opositor Javier Delgado Torna, integrante del Movimiento Cubano Reflexión, con substancias aparentemente toxicas y están impidiendo que este salga para realizar cualquier tipo de actividad cívica. Enlace a audio: http://youtu.be/sz6g1NOjzyw

9 de diciembre del 2013

Santa Clara, Villa Clara-Lanzan proclamas contra el régimen- Damaris Moya Portieles presidenta de la Coalición Central Opositora informa que cuatro miembros de la organización acaban de lanzar alrededor de 250 proclamas antigubernamentales en la calle prolongación de Marta Abreu, una de las calles más céntricas del reparto Virginia, en la ciudad de Santa Clara. Enlace a audio: http://youtu.be/Vrc7qiIVbhY

Boyeros, La Habana-Asedio- Fuerzas policiales han rodeado la vivienda de la opositora Sara Marta Fonseca Quevedo, del Partido Pro DDH de Cuba y del Frente OZT, en Boyeros, La Habana en la víspera del Día Mundial de los Derechos Humanos. A pesar de estos operativos, Fonseca Quevedo envía un mensaje directo a la dictadura de que el martes 10 de diciembre saldrán a las calles para reclamar derechos para todos los cubanos. Enlace a audio: http://youtu.be/aJEx_PGl3rk

Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara-Arrestos- El ex prisionero político Jorge Vázquez Chaviano, miembro del Frente Nacional de Resistencia OZT y de la Coalición Central Opositora, recuenta desde la ciudad de Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara, como fue arrestado violentamente este lunes junto a otros activistas, incluyendo a su esposa María del Carmen Hernández. Enlace a audio: http://youtu.be/cph7VBMc1mo

Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara- Arrestan a activista y aparecen por volantes y letreros antigubernamentales- María del Carmen  Martínez denuncia que detuvieron a su esposo Jorge Vázquez Chaviano para que no participe en el Día de los Derechos Humanos además del que régimen tiene miedo por la aparición de volantes y letreros antigubernamentales. Enlace a audio: http://youtu.be/0ZKPxDPefGA

Catalina de Guines, Mayabeque- Reportan  asedio y vigilancia -Ricardo Lázaro Fiallo delegado provincia Mayabeque Partido Pro Derechos Humanos de Cuba afiliado a la Fundación Andrei Sajarov y Frente de Resistencia Cívica Orlando Zapata Tamayo que el régimen inico un operativo para evitar la celebración del Día Internacional de los Derechos Humanos comenzando un despliegue de vigilancia dirigido por el agente de la Seguridad del Estado Aníbal conocido como “cabeza de toro” quien amenazó  a Julián Enrique Martínez Báez en San José de  las Lajas que no habría celebración de esta fecha. La policía se personó en el hogar de Ricardo Lázaro Fiallo en Catalina de Guines el mismo día y con las mismas amenazas incluyendo un acto de repudio, siendo la misma asediada por la policía política  y han establecido un puesto de mando a una cuadra de su casa en Avenida 27, e/ 8 y 10, Catalina de Guines, Provincia Mayabeque.

Enlace audio: http://youtu.be/B4cUJbUVS1k

Cuban exile and former CIA operative speaks out on Kennedy Assassination

Eugenio Rolando Martinez (Musculito)

Eugenio Rolando Martinez (Musculito) was born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba on July 8, 1922. In the 1950s during the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship he ran guns for Carlos Prio Socarras , the then exiled and last democratically elected president of Cuba. Musculito was engaged in the war against Batista. Following Batista's overthrow when Fidel Castro revealed that democracy would not be restored Rolando returned to the armed struggle now with the CIA. 

On November 20, 2013 the former CIA operative was interviewed about what he believes happened to John F. Kennedy fifty years ago in Dallas on November 22, 1963 and on Lee Harvey Oswald's role.

Abandoned Battlefield: Still relevant after 12 years

Abandoned Battlefield

Eusebio de Jesús Peñalver Mazorra

John Suarez
June 2, 2001

The battle of ideas surrounding the Cuban revolution in the United States has not been fully joined. The Cuban freedom movement has lobbyists, congressmen, journalists, and a couple of foundations and centers focused on opinion makers and politicians in the United States. The Castro regime has all that and more. The pro-Castro lobby is outspending the freedom movement 10 to 1, and they have engaged with grassroots left-wing allies at the local level nationally and in the academia.

Last month, members of the Free Cuba Foundation joined together with California Young Americans for Freedom and Free Vietnam Youth and embarked on a lecture tour of the state of California. What we found was that representatives of the Castro regime had already been visiting colleges and community centers throughout the entire state for years. Even young Conservatives who are ideologically anti-communists knew little about Cuba other than they were against what the communists were advocating.

From Orange County in the south to San Francisco in the north of California revolutionary icons were everywhere to be seen. Che Guevara emblazoned on posters and t-shirts. Speaking at the University of California, Davis and translating for ex-political prisoner Eusebio de Jesús Peñalver Mazorra at the University of California, Santa Barbara we realized that in the battle of ideas in many parts of the United States the pro-Castro forces have a monologue even more one sided than Castro's in Cuba.

In Cuba the dissident movement although often imprisoned, driven into exile, tortured, and in some cases murdered by the regime is known and has an impact at the grassroots level, and via Radio Marti on a national level in Cuba. The difference between what takes place in Cuba and what is taking place here is the double tragedy. In Cuba the tragedy is that the regime in power systematically attempts to silence the pro-democracy movement using the power of the police state they have erected. In the United States the tragedy is that Cuban Americans have the right to challenge the regime throughout the country, but have largely confined ourselves to New Jersey and Miami.

The reasons for this abandonment of the United States grassroots campaign are two-fold:

First, pro-democracy groups have been working outside of the United States to gather support in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. The vote in Geneva condemning the Castro regime's human rights record is partly a result of this effort, and is of great importance and needs to be continued.

Secondly, the United States has at the level of the Federal government maintained a more or less steadfast policy maintaining sanctions, and denouncing the human rights violations in Cuba. Pro-democracy groups have maintained offices in Washington DC to lobby the US Congress and the Executive branch.

This was a suitable strategy while the Cold War was going on, and Castro was receiving his subsidy from the Soviet Union and exporting revolution throughout Latin America and Africa posing a strategic threat to the United States as an arm of the Soviet empire. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War changed that calculus. The regime since at least the early 1990s has sent young communists to speak on college campuses. They have engaged with elements of the New Left and in recent years have built coalitions with business interests that want to trade with nations like Cuba, Libya, Iraq, and Iran.The pro-Castro coalition in the United States spans the ideological divide, and has even more lobbyists, congressmen, journalists, foundations and politicians at their disposal than does the Cuban freedom movement. In addition, the pro-Castro coalition has been working the grassroots to expand their coalition into areas the freedom movement has not even tapped into on a sustained basis.

The pro-Cuban freedom movement needs to find its friends all across the ideological divide, and needs to break the monologue that the pro-Castro side has maintained in too many parts of the United States. The freedom movement needs to speak truth to power, and live by the very same liberties the movement wants to see in Cuba. The ends do not justify the means. The freedom movement inside of Cuba is based on a non-violent strategy consistent with its end goals. The freedom movement abroad must follow their lead. Violence and human rights violations are the tool of the Castro regime and his coalition.

We live in a world in which the most powerful countries are democracies: USA, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Taiwan, and South Korea just to name a few. The movement inside of Cuba following the path of Gandhi and King will gain the support of the world with an effective freedom movement abroad echoing their actions and statements while at the same time denouncing the human rights violations of the regime. Ricardo Bofill, one of the founders of the Cuban Committee for human Rights, has spoken and written often about the importance of engaging the regime in the battle of ideas.

Many thought that with the collapse of the Soviet empire that the idea of communism would've fallen onto the ash heap of history they were wrong. The name may have been changed, but the hatred of capitalism, and the defense of left-wing tyrannies continue unabated. We must engage in the battle of ideas to win Cuba's freedom.

#FreeElCritico : Family issues a call for solidarity

 Cuban dissident and rapper Angel Yunier Remón Arzuaga, whose stage name is “el Critico del Arte” (the “Art Critic”) has been unjustly imprisoned since March 2013  and is at this moment dying on hunger strike demanding his freedom after being beaten and arbitrarily detained. His family is desperately seeking solidarity for their loved one.


Tomorrow at 7pm there will be a gathering for El Critico at Versailles located at 3555 SW 8th Street in Miami, FL.

Meanwhile let others know of his plight and spread the word over twitter using the hashtag #FreeElCritico

Learn more about his plight here, here and here.