Dagoberto Valdes – Translating Cuba

“We Will Die With Our Boots on Defending the Revolution,” Warns Major ‘Ernesto’

State Security forbids Dagoberto Valdés from any contact with the US ambassador and assures that what happened in Venezuela, where there was “betrayal and collaboration with the enemy,” will not happen in Cuba.

Valdés explained that the meeting with Mike Hammer was related to the distribution of humanitarian aid donated by the United States through the church. / Facebook / US Embassy in Cuba

14ymedio, Havana, 23 January 2025 — The Center for Coexistence Studies (CEC) confirmed that Dagoberto Valdés Hernández was arrested and interrogated this Friday at the State Security headquarters in Pinar del Río, in an operation led by Majors Ernesto and Manuel, both officers of the political police. The arrest, carried out without a warrant or the right to be summoned, was motivated—according to the officers themselves—by a recent visit Valdés made to Mike Hammer, Chargé d’Affaires of the United States Embassy in Cuba.

According to the statement released by Convivencia, officers arrived at Valdés’s home in the morning, accompanied by a police patrol. They ordered him to clear the house of any visitors present, lock it, and accompany them immediately, without explaining the reason for his arrest or allowing him to make a phone call. Valdés was taken directly to the State Security headquarters in the provincial capital.

After learning of the arrest, members of the Community Relations team went to the Police Headquarters to try to locate him. The officer on duty stated that they had not received any patrol cars that morning. Given this response, they went to the State Security headquarters, where initially no information was provided either. Only after insisting on speaking directly with someone in charge did Majors Ernesto and Manuel appear at reception to inform Yoandy Izquierdo Toledo that Valdés was being held there.

In that same exchange, the officers told Izquierdo that he had “saved them a trip because they were going to look for him too,” demanded he hand over his identity card, and informed him that he would be interrogated as well. Valdés was taken to internal offices, where an interrogation of more than two hours took place, involving the head of the Legal Department of State Security, Major Ernesto—the officer who “handles” Convivencia—Major Manuel, head of the Counterrevolution Brigade in the province, and a young officer who did not identify himself.

The legal officer explained that the reason for the arrest was Valdés’ visit to Mike Hammer

During the interrogation, the legal officer explained that the reason for the arrest was Valdés’s visit to Mike Hammer. In that context, he accused him of terrorism and of collaborating with a foreign power that—he claimed—had threatened Cuba with military intervention. The officers asserted that they would not allow the U.S. diplomat to contact people continue reading

within the country to “use them for his own purposes” in the current national situation and affirmed that they would “die with their boots on defending the Revolution.”

Major Ernesto read excerpts from a column published by Valdés in Convivencia on Monday, January 19, in which he urged preparations for peaceful change in Cuba under the premise that “the future is already here.” He asked if this text was related to the visit to the diplomat. Valdés responded by quoting his own article, in which he recalled the words of Saint John Paul II, according to which Cubans “are and must be the protagonists of our own personal and national history,” emphasizing that change must be undertaken by the citizens themselves.

Valdés further explained that the meeting with Hammer was related to the distribution of humanitarian aid donated by the United States through the church, and that the purpose of the conversation was to learn his opinion on the process. Despite this, the officials insisted on portraying the contact as a hostile act and reiterated warnings about future interactions with foreign diplomats.

At the conclusion of the interrogation, the officers informed Valdés that it was a warning document, which he refused to sign. They advised him not to respond to any further invitations from the U.S. diplomat or participate in activities organized by the Embassy, although they indicated that he could travel to Havana for reasons related to the Church, studies, family matters, or caring for sick people.

The arrests and interrogations confirm the state of panic gripping the regime’s repressive forces.

Later, Yoandy Izquierdo was interrogated under the same pretexts. The officers warned him about alleged manipulation by the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires and other embassies, demanded he “maintain the profile” of Convivencia, and asserted that sharing the ideas of the “enemy” also constitutes a crime.

They alluded to Venezuela as an example of what, they said, they would not allow to happen in Cuba, that they “knew everything” because of Cuban intelligence reports, but there “there was betrayal and collaboration with the enemy,” and that here that was not going to happen because “the Revolution is stronger than ever.”

Izquierdo responded that he is responsible for what he writes and for his work with the Coexistence Project and the Center for Studies for over 15 years, but not for official interpretations or “hypothetical futures.” He also questioned the proportionality of the police deployment to address the content of the interrogation, to which Major Ernesto replied that it was a matter of “action-reaction” due to the gravity of the situation in the country.

The arrests and interrogations confirm the state of panic experienced by the regime’s repressive forces in the current regional geopolitical scenario, marked by the capture of Nicolás Maduro and the abrupt realignment of alliances and loyalties on the Cuba-Venezuela axis.

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Cuban State Security Arrests Dagoberto Valdés, Director of the Center for Coexistence Studies

Dagoberto Valdés and his colleague Yoandy Izquierdo are in the same situation; Major ‘Ernesto’ has not given any explanation

Dagoberto Valdés (left) and Yoandy Izquierdo (right), members of the Center for Coexistence Studies, were detained at the headquarters of the Technical Investigations Department (DTI) in Pinar del Río. / Facebook / Coexistence

14ymedio, Havana, January 23, 2025 — Catholic intellectual and activist Dagoberto Valdés Hernández was arrested this Friday by State Security agents at his home in Pinar del Río, in an operation that also involved police officers. The arrest was reported by the Center for Coexistence Studies (CEC), an organization Valdés has led for more than two decades and which has become one of the most enduring spaces for independent civic thought in Cuba.

According to information released by Convivencia, the operation was led by Major Ernesto, a State Security officer who “handles” that organization. The officer arrived at Valdés’s house accompanied by a police patrol and took him away without explaining the reasons for the arrest or where he was being taken. Since then, members of the CEC have tried to locate him at Police Headquarters and at the State Security offices in Pinar del Río.

The arrest wasn’t limited to Valdés. Shortly afterward, Yoandy Izquierdo, a member of the Community Relations team , went to the headquarters of the Technical Investigations Department (DTI) in Pinar del Río to inquire about Valdés’s situation. There, he was received by Major Ernesto himself, who proceeded to arrest him: “You’ve saved me a trip, because I was just about to come looking for you too.” Izquierdo had left his phone with some friends before being detained at that DTI headquarters, located at kilometer 4 on the road to San Juan y Martínez.

A central figure of the Cuban Catholic laity, Valdés has been for decades a benchmark of critical thinking not aligned with power

Convivencia confirmed to this newspaper that both Dagoberto Valdés and Yoandy Izquierdo are being held at that police facility. The manner in which the arrest was carried out once again highlights a recurring practice of the Cuban repressive apparatus: detention without a warrant, without formal notification to the family, and without information about the detainees’ legal status. It is unknown whether this is a case of enforced disappearance continue reading

of short duration, a tactic designed to sow uncertainty, intimidate those around them, and prevent an immediate public reaction.

Dagoberto Valdés is not a new name in the files of State Security. An agricultural engineer by training and a central figure in the Cuban Catholic laity, he has been for decades a leading voice of critical thought not aligned with the regime. First through the magazine Vitral in the 1990s, and later through Convivencia, Valdés has promoted a discourse centered on human dignity, citizen participation, and the need for a peaceful and democratic transition in Cuba. This combination of structured thought, moderate language, and persistence has proven particularly uncomfortable for the regime.

The harassment against him and his team has been systematic. Interrogations, police summonses, veiled threats, smear campaigns, and temporary detentions are all part of the repertoire used against the center. On several occasions, Valdés has been stopped on the road, detained for hours, and subjected to interrogations focused on his international connections, the magazine’s funding, and the center’s contacts with other civil society actors. None of these actions have resulted in legal proceedings, but they have served to maintain constant pressure.

Since its founding, the Convivencia Studies Center has been committed to analyzing Cuban reality from a pluralistic perspective, addressing topics such as the economy, education, culture, and citizens’ rights.

This Friday’s arrest comes amid a tightening of political control and growing intolerance toward any form of autonomous organization. While the government insists on its discourse of “unity” in the face of the economic and social crisis, coupled with fears of military actions similar to those carried out by the US in Caracas, repression against critical voices, including those advocating dialogue and non-violence, is intensifying.

In recent days, other prominent figures in the critical press and intellectual circles have experienced a similar ordeal. Journalist Henry Constantín, director of La Hora de Cuba, was released after being detained and held incommunicado for 44 hours in Havana. A few days later, writer and columnist Jorge Fernández Era was detained for 16 hours, also with his whereabouts unknown, after going out to carry out his monthly civic protest.

Since its founding, the Center for Coexistence Studies has been committed to analyzing Cuban reality from a pluralistic perspective, addressing topics such as the economy, education, culture, and civil rights. Its texts, seminars, and proposals have avoided the language of direct confrontation, which has not prevented the authorities from taking radical measures against the project. For State Security, simply thinking about Cuba outside the official narrative constitutes a threat.

On social media, activists, intellectuals, and believers have expressed their concern and demanded Valdés’s immediate release. This reaction, however, has once again been met with the usual wall of official silence.

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We Are Cuban Forever

Young journalist Karla Pérez had to return to Costa Rica on March 18th, after being stranded for several hours at the Panama airport, subsequent to not being allowed to board her plane to Cuba. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Dagoberto Valdés Hernández, Pinar del Río, 24 March 2021 — Young Karla María Pérez González could not enter Cuba, the country where she was born, grew up and attended school, because an authority left her stranded at the Panama airport and she had to return to Costa Rica, where she had gone to attend school after being expelled from her [Cuban] University for political reasons. The details of this case have filled the networks in recent days. Now I want to get to the bottom of the matter and highlight the perpetuity and inviolability of the Cuban condition of everyone who has been born in this land.

The 2019 Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, in force today, dedicates six articles on the subject of citizenship. Title IV establishes:

Article 33. Cuban citizenship is acquired by birth or by naturalization.

Article 34. The following are Cuban citizens by birth:

a) Those born in the national territory, with the exception of the children of foreigners who are in the service of their government or international organizations. The law establishes the requirements and formalities for the case of children of foreigners who are not permanent residents in the country. continue reading

The acquisition of another citizenship does not imply the loss of Cuban citizenship

Article 36. The acquisition of another citizenship does not imply the loss of Cuban citizenship.

Article 38. Cubans cannot be deprived of their citizenship, except for legally established causes. The law establishes the procedure to be followed for the formalization of loss and renouncement of citizenship and what authorities are empowered to decide it.

Article 39. Cuban citizenship may be recovered after fulfilling the requirements and formalities prescribed by law.

Article 128. It corresponds to the President of the Republic to:

a) comply with and ensure respect for the Constitution and the laws;

m) decide, in the cases that concerns it, granting Cuban citizenship, accepting resignations to Cuban citizenship and disposing of deprivation of citizenship.

From these constitutional precepts we can conclude that all of us who have been born in this land and are children of Cuban parents are Cuban citizens because of our birth, as established in the aforementioned article 34, while article 38 clearly states that Cubans cannot be deprived of their citizenship except by established legal decision, which is the prerogative of only the President of the Republic.

We are, therefore, Cubans by birth and in perpetuity unless a legal process and the explicit decision of the president deprives a person of it. The person can, however, recover it according to article 39.

We are, therefore, Cubans by birth and in perpetuity unless a legal process and the explicit decision of the president deprives a person of it

So, if we are Cubans and have the same rights and duties, all those recognized by the Constitution must be respected, because no law can go against the Constitution, which is the Magna Carta that governs coexistence among all Cubans. I seem to hear some who might comment that these rules are dead paper and are frequently violated. Well, we can argue at least two things:

Without the Constitution, without laws, and without respecting it, the country is led into chaos, and peaceful coexistence becomes almost unfeasible. Therefore, even theoretically, the Constitution, legitimate or not, can, and should be an instrument of peaceful and civilized order. Otherwise, citizens would fall into total helplessness, and disorder would reign. This is not convenient to anyone, least of all to the authorities responsible for keeping the order. Whoever violates these rules of coexistence not only commits a serious crime, but also threatens national stability and peace.

That they are systematically violated, or that they are interpreted ad libitum, according to the will of those who have the duty to respect them and take care that they are respected, does not mean that these freedoms, rights and duties are not valid, necessary and convenient.

This does not apply only to Cuba; it is part of the universal legal heritage.

To freely enter and leave the country

Another of the current constitutional precepts that nothing and no one should violate because it is also common sense, incontestable ethics and jurisprudence in all countries, is that every citizen has the inviolable right to enter and leave her own country. This is what the current Constitution says in its article 52:

Article 52. People are free to enter, stay, transit and leave the national territory, change their domicile or residence, without any limitations other than those established by law.

In Cuba, a status euphemistically called “regulated” has become almost common and current.

It is in the public domain that this constitutional precept cannot be denied by a lower regulation that leaves the free will of a person, or of an organism that is not a competent court of justice in each case. However, a status euphemistically called “regulated” in Cuba has become almost common and current, which leaves the decision of non-legal persons or institutions the free decision to “regulate” the departures of the country to people who have no pending cause, neither criminal nor civil.

In the same way that we know of cases in which people who have unexpired legal causes are granted an exit permit. Now the case is that, whatever the cause, a Cuban citizen has had to be welcomed by special intervention of a country that is not her own because she has not been able to resolve an immigration procedure whatsoever if she had any. That would correspond to Cuban consulates anywhere in the world to detect it, alert it and resolve it.

Situations like these, and other similar ones in relation to the free exit or entry of the country or province where one resides or was born, only contribute to destabilization and feed mistrust, uncertainty and illegalities.

Several questions arise in these irregular situations: are they somehow justified by authorities, regulations or protocols that are contrary to the Constitution, and therefore legally unacceptable, or are they simply the errors of intermediate officials? Who is or are empowered to make these decisions that go against human rights and against the letter of the Constitution? Why have these errors or unconstitutional regulations not been corrected, if they were? What are the legal mechanisms with which citizens can claim these and other arbitrariness, or do we simply remain defenseless due to attributions of organisms of non-legal character?

The situation in Cuba is not in any condition to add to the economic, health and existential crises these types of events that produce tension and disaffection

The situation in Cuba is not in any condition to add to its economic, health and existential crises these types of events that produce tension and disaffection even greater than those that already exist in the daily life of Cubans.

Whatever the answers to these and other questions, something is clear in the universal conscience and in the international regulations which Cuba is a part of, and that is:

That we are Cubans forever, and that we have the inalienable right to enter, leave, reside and change our address simply because of our condition of being Cuban, and even more, because of our condition of being human.

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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on Convivencia and is reproduced here with the author’s permission.

Translated by Norma Whiting

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What Will Happen in Cuba on April 19, 2018?

The current Cuban president, Raúl Castro, accompanied by his political dauphin, Miguel Díaz-Canel, during an event in the national Parliament. (EFE)

14ymedio, Dagoberto Valdes, Pinar del Rio, 20 March 2018 — Just one month until April 19, 2018, the date chosen to end the mandate ofRaúl Castro, President of the Council of State and Ministers, many Cubans and friends of Cuba are asking ourselves what will happen in just 31 days. Nobody, not even the ones who are at the highest levels of power at this unprecedented moment, can know exactly what will happen, but predictions and expectations abound.

On the one hand, there are those who say that nothing is going to change and that everything will remain the same in an endless succession. In my opinion, the terms “nothing” and “everything” in politics, as in many other things, do not reflect the reality that is always changing. And this historical evolution in the waters of the river, always the same and always different, can not be stopped completely, even if the will and intentions are immobilized. Otherwise history would have stopped with each of the totalitarianisms, authoritarianisms or dictatorships and it has not happened that way. continue reading

On the other hand, there are those who say that everything is going to change in a single moment and they try to avoid a succession occurring within the same group of power. In my opinion, the same logic can be applied to this scenario. One of the most false myths of the political reality is that “everything” can change, the day that “everyone” goes out to make it happen and it would happen in “one” moment. Not even the most radical revolutions have happened like this. They come on by a telluric and deaf current. And they continue with many reminiscences and legacies of the old regime surviving after the change.

One month from this date, I will try to give my personal opinion, based not on assumptions or wishes, but on these facts:

It is the first time in 60 years that we Cubans are asking ourselves what will be the name of the person who will become the representative of the State and the Government.
It is the first time in 60 years that the positions of Head of State and Government and First Secretary of the Single Party will be divided between two individuals.
It is the first time in 60 years that a civilian who has never been a military man will take over the leadership of the State and the Government, while a military man will continue, for three years, as the head of the Party.
It is the first time in 60 years that the Head of State and Government will have a different surname and almost all foreign regulations with regards to relationships to Cuba, specifically reference “while” that surname remains in power.
It is the first time in 60 years that the so-called “historical” generation, that is, the one that made the revolution, accepts a generational change by force majeure.

With all the respect that all the opinions deserve, I consider that these five realities alone are already, in themselves, a substantial change, although the discourse that we will listen to on the 19^th, and the following days, will be one of total fidelity and continuity. These attitudes and totalitarian options have not given the expected results in the vast majority of cases, because they are disconnected from the reality in which people live.

Other comments that we hear in the public debate “on the streets” include:

Well, we’ve been waiting for 60 years and nothing has changed substantially.
All this change of position is true, but the person who comes will be a “puppet” and with the real power “behind” them.
The one “behind” will follow the “civic-military” power formed by the triad: Party-Army-Ministry of the Interior.
“Something” will have to change because the current “crisis” is simply unsustainable.
I think that:
To pass from “everything” has to change, to “something” has to change, is another reasonable change.
I wonder: If those who today can follow the “front,” what is the point of going “behind”?
How long can the people of the nation and the interlocutors of the international community wait to confirm that the person who has occupied the post of Head of State is a “symbolic” president?
How long can there be a president who is “symbolic,” assuming and signing, without responsibility or legitimacy, the difficult and traumatic reformist laws as, for example, the elimination of the so-called “double currency” or the closure or tender of unprofitable state companies?
In today’s real world, the “correlation of forces” in international relations has changed in a decisive way.
Governments and blocs are waiting for this generational change with very high expectations and proposals that should not be disregarded.
The subsidies of countries that were available to sustain the disaster of the Cuban economic model do not exist anymore.

That the people of the nation have expectations after April 19 in the midst of so much existential anxiety is very good and I will not be the one to kill those hopes, because although it is true that “high expectations equal great frustrations,” it is also true that Change has been possible if there had not been growing aspirations and “last” hopes.

That the international community has expectations and has postponed, until after April 19, its best positions for the Cuban people, waiting for structural changes, is very good and I am in favor of that, always. The advance of the conscience of the peoples reflected in free and democratic elections, gives me back the certainty that changes are possible, even if they are a reaction to the disastrous economic, social and above all anthropological results of the so-called “socialism of the 21st century.”

I think that after April 19, 2018 that underground river that has already been resurgent that prepare and condition a new stage in Cuba will continue.

I believe that after April 19, 2018, gradually and slowly, orderly and gradual transformations will occur that – if a violent rupture does not occur in the heights because in the lowlands it is impossible, God does not want either of the two scenarios – they will lead to a peaceful and growing transition as long as the “historical” generation can conclude its life cycle in a natural way. This has happened in many sister countries, why should Cuba have to be worse?

I believe that a healthy dialectical tension between order-continuity and changes-renewal, without excesses or shrillness, could be the effective engine to lead Cuba towards truly new times. At the end of the day, all the successful transitions for its people have been balancing in difficult equilibrium, “as on the razor’s edge” and therefore all the sane protagonists, have had to demand and give, in a give and take, with audacity and courage, serenity and patience, tolerance and firmness, all avoiding greater evils of violence and exclusions, avoiding tightening repressions and disorders that increase fear. And fear is always, by repression or turbulence, a bad companion along the way. The climate that we breathe and the life that we lead today, under a growing suffocating repression, does not lead anywhere, or perhaps it does: to a situation of excesses that, by getting out of hand, leads to violence and death. That must stop, for the good of Cuba.

I ask God, and the Virgin of Charity, our mother Cachita, the mambisa virgin, the protector of all Cubans, that Cuba can undertake and continue, from 19 April, its long and winding road to freedom, pluralism, inclusion and democracy.

I ask that the protagonists, all of them, above and below, who know that today is unsustainable, open their doors to citizen sovereignty, protect national sovereignty, maintain order and the gradualness of changes, avoiding all violence, repression and any exclusion between Cubans and Cubans which, I remind us, we all are.

And I am sure that Cuba will give the world an example of an orderly peaceful transition, without a single victim of any of the parties and with the contribution of all parties. Thus, we will be faithful to our best historical, cultural and ethical roots. That is what Varela and Martí wanted.

Dagoberto Valdés is director of the Centro de Estudios Convivencia (Coexistence Study Center), a Cuban think tank based in Pinar del Río. This article has previously been published in the magazine Coexistence and we reproduce it with the authorization of the author.

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The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.

Cuban Faces 2017: Karina Gálvez, Economist

Karina Gálvez, editor of the magazine ‘Convivencia’ in Pinar del Río. (Courtesy)

14ymedio, Havana, 30 December 2017 — For a whole decade the economist Karina Gálvez Chiu (b. 1966, Pinar del Río) has contributed to the development of the Convivencia (Coexistence) Project in a constant and effective manner. Editor, lecturer and a keen analyst of the Cuban reality, this woman from Pinar del Río born in the complicated decade of the ‘60s is one of the most visible faces of the initiative directed by Dagoberto Valdés.

Gálvez’s work as editor of an independent publication and member of the management of the Center for Coexistence Studies (CEC), has led to her frequent arrests, interrogations and threats from State Security.

In January of this year she was detained for a week in the Criminal Investigation Technical Directorate of Pinar del Río and later sentenced to three years of deprivation of liberty and the confiscation of her home, which had become a meeting place for members of the Convivencia team. In 2009, the patio of her parents’ house, where her colleagues met, had also been confiscated and closed off.

The most recent and disproportionate sanction is based on a charge of alleged tax evasion derived from the act of sale of the property. In addition, Galvez has been prohibited from exercising the right to vote or standing as a candidate in electoral processes, and has lost “the right to occupy management positions in the organs corresponding to the political-administrative activity of the State.” She is also forbidden to be “issued a passport and leave the national territory until the sanctions imposed have been terminated.”

The economist has not been imprisoned. The sentence contemplates that the term of deprivation of liberty can be served by three years of house arrest with correctional work, which she is currently fulfilling by cleaning floors in a school in the city.

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Prosecutors Demand Three Years in Prison for Karina Gálvez and the Confiscation of Her Home

The indictment also demands the seizure of Karina Gálvez’s house. (14ymedio)

14ymedio, Havana, 5 August 2017 — Economist Karina Gálvez received the prosecution’s petition on Saturday for the alleged crime of “tax evasion.” According to this petition, the member of the Center for Coexistence Studies (CEC) could be sentenced to three years of house arrest and confiscation of her home, she informed 14ymedio.

“A messenger from the Tribunal, on a motorcycle, came to my mother’s house to give me a document that I had to sign as received,” she says. “The paper, sent by the Municipal Court of Pinar del Rio, details that the prosecutor has arrived at provisional accusations.”

The prosecution is asking for “three years of deprivation of liberty plus the same period of limitation of freedom.” This latter means a person cannot travel abroad, must inform the authorities when leaving the province, and is obliged to have work. continue reading

The accusation also requires the forfeiture of the house that Gálvez acquired after the flexibilizations for the purchase and sale of houses promoted by the Government of Raúl Castro at the end of 2011.

In the next five business days, her lawyer will present a plea to ask for acquittal or a lower penalty. “Starting with this communication, my lawyer will have access for the first time to the case file,” says the economist.

However, neither the lawyer nor the defendant has been informed of the date of the oral hearing.

In January, Galvez was arrested and taken to the headquarters of the State Security where she spent six days under arrest. The police searched her home and since then the house has been under investigation and is sealed, which prevents access for the owner or her family.

The economist has been under pressure from the authorities since last December when she was summoned to the Department of Immigration and Immigration (DIE), where she was questioned about her travels outside Cuba.

Other members of the Convivencia magazine have been cited by the police and have received warnings, including the director of the publication, Dagoberto Valdés, who last October was told by an official that “from today” his life will be “very difficult.”

Amid this wave of pressure, members of the CEC, which organizes training courses for citizens and civil society, issued a declaration of commitment to their work in the island. “We are not leaving Cuba, we are not leaving the Church and we will continue working for the country.”

Publisher of ‘Coexistence’ is Incommunicado in State Security Headquarters / 14ymedio, Mario Penton

Karina Gálvez, editor of the magazine Coexistence in Pinar del Río. (Alongthemalecon)

14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 21 January 2017 — The editor of the magazine Convivencia (Coexistence), the economist Karina Galvez, is still being held incommunicado 24 hours after a spectacular police raid on her home in Pinar del Río.

Gálvez is accused of tax evasion, something that the editorial team of the Coexistence Study Center precluded in a press release.

“Karina has no business, nor is she self-employed in her work, nor does she work for the Cuban state,” says the letter signed by the team of the first think tank in the western part of the island. continue reading

The members of Convivencia explain that the accusation refers to the sale of Galvez’s home: “All the transactions carried out in 2014 are in order and all corresponding tax payments have been made.”

According to the note, the detainee is being advised by the team of lawyers of the International Legal Consultancy in Pinar del Río.

Karins Gálvez’s house is sealed and friends and relatives are prohibited from entering. According to the official who identified herself as Major Odalys, the house is “occupied” and Galvez will be held incommunicado for seven days, after which she may receive a visit to give her personal cleanliness supplies.

“They have not taken anything from the house, what they have done is pasted on the doors and the garage papers handwritten in ink,” Yoandy Izquierdo, a member of the editorial team ‘Coexistence’, told 14ymedio.

According to Izquierdo, after a week, police and state security officials will determine whether they will impose “a precautionary measure, bail or imprisonment.”

The break-in of Galvez’s house came within a few hours of the inauguration of the new interior minister, Julio César Gandarilla, who exercises command of the National Revolutionary Police and State Security forces.

Dagoberto Valdés Hernández, director of the Coexistence Study Center, has highlighted the increase in repressive actions against the center, which has no political affiliation.

“This is part of the harassment that the Study Center has been suffering intensely for months. I was warned that life would be more difficult for us and we are not in a time of maintaining alternative positions,” Valdes said in a telephone conversation with 14ymedio.

“What they have done to Karina Gálvez is a clear violation of human rights and it seems to concern the production of thought for the future of the country, when precisely what we Cubans need sit down around the table and discuss how we can solve the serious problems our nation is experiencing,” he added.

On Christmas Eve, Galvez had been summoned to the Department of Immigration and Immigration (DIE) where she was questioned about her travels outside Cuba.

Valdés himself underwent an intense interrogation last October when she was told that her academic activity represented a danger.

On November 25, State Security banned a meeting of the Center that was intended to address the issue of culture and education in the future of Cuba.

“The repressive wave grows and spreads like we have never seen. We are very worried and we want to make a warning call,” said Valdés.

Cuban Economist and Activist Karina Galvez Arrested And Taken To State Security Headquarters / 14ymedio

A strong police search and the arrest of Karina Gálvez marked this day in Pinar del Río. (Coexistence)

14ymedio, Havana, 11 January 2017 — The economist Karina Galvez, a member of the editorial board of the magazine Convivencia (Coexistence) has been arrested and taken to the headquarters of State Security on the Pinar del Rio highway. Her home is sealed and family and friends are not allowed access.

On Wednesday morning the police searched Galvez’s house. Several officers from State Security’s Technical Investigations Department (DTI), officials from the Institute of Physical Planning, and numerous police officers took part in the raid, as reported to 14ymedio by Dagoberto Valdes, director of the independent publication in the city of Pinar del Río.

Livia Gálvez, Karina’s sister, explained that an official who identified herself as “Major Odalys,” told her that Karina was being held under the crime of “tax evasion,” which could be linked to the sale of a property. continue reading

She added that she was told that she may visit her in seven days to bring her personal hygiene supplies.

Yoandy Izquierdo, a member of the Convivencia team, said the police search lasted nearly four hours.

“They have not taken anything from the house, what they have done is to paste notices handwritten in pen on the doors and garage,” said Izquierdo, who witnessed an Interior Ministry official stating that “the house is not confiscated, it is occupied.”

“There is a police car and a DTI car outside the house,” Valdés said in a telephone conversation with this newspaper in the morning. The director of the study center also reported a visible operation around the block of the building.

So far the reason for the search and Galvez’s arrest is unknown.

On 24 December Karina Galvez was summoned to the Department of Immigration and Aliens (DIE) where she was questioned about her travels outside Cuba. During the interrogation, two officers demanded that she give details about her participation in a forum on internet governance in Guadalajara, Mexico.

In recent months, members of the magazine Convivencia have been subjected to pressure and warnings. Dagoberto Valdes underwent an intense interrogation last October at police headquarters on San Juan Highway in Pinar del Rio. A uniformed official told him, “From today your life will be very difficult.”

On 25 November, State Security prohibited a meeting of the Coexistence Studies Center (CEC), linked to the magazine, which intended to address Culture and Education in the Future of Cuba: Vision and Proposal.

The Center organizes training courses for citizens and civil society in Cuba. The entity functions independently from the State, the Church and any political group. The magazine of the same name was begun in 2008; it is published bi-monthly and has just released its 54^th issue.

Cuban State Security Prohibits Third Meeting Of Coexistence Studies Center / 14ymedio

The director of the Center for Coexistence Studies, Dagoberto Valdes. (Facebook)

14ymedio, Havana, 25 November 2016 — The meeting of the Center for Coexistence Studies (CEC) scheduled for Saturday in Pinar del Rio has been prohibited by State Security, as reported two officers to the organization’s director, Dagoberto Valdes. The men visited the house of the Catholic layman and they assured him that “high command” would not allow holding the event, the intellectual told 14ymedio.

The meeting, the third of its kind, had as its theme Culture and Education in the Future of Cuba: vision and proposal. The organizers expected the participation of about 20 people, most of them from other provinces.

One of the officials said he was Major Joaquin, who was also present at the last interrogation to which Valdes was summoned. Among the arguments presented for the prohibition of the meeting was that it had been scheduled to take place 72 hours before the anniversary of the landing of the yacht Granma, which brought Fidel and Raul Castro and other revolutionaries from Mexico.

The major also said that those invited to the meeting were “prominent counterrevolutionary ringleaders,” but without giving details. Valdes, who is also director of the magazine Convivencia (Coexistence), questioned the reasons why the Government to considers dangerous a meeting to talk about education.

Last September the CEC had to cancel a meeting on community issues, when two participants from Cienfuegos were intercepted and forced to return to their province.

The Coexistence Studies Center organizes training courses for the citizenry and civil society in Cuba. The organization operates independently of the State, the Church and any political group.

Dagoberto Valdes Recounts His Conversation With Cuban State Security / 14ymedio, Dagoberto Valdes

Cuban intellectuals and artists from both sides of the Florida Straits in a meeting organized by the Center for Coexistence Studies. (File 14ymedio)

14ymedio, Dagoberto Valdes, 25 November 2016 — At the stroke of noon today, 25 November 2016, two officials from State Security came to my house, Major Joaquin, who participated in my interrogation on 27 October, and another official.

Major Joaquin said that they came to inform me that I would not be permitted to hold the meeting planned by the Center for Coexistence Studies for this weekend, the 26^th and 27^th of November, because this is considered a provocative activity, because those invited are “ringleaders of the counterrevolution” because of doing so barely hours from the 60^th anniversary of the landing of the [yacht] Granma [that brought Fidel and Raul Castro and other revolutionaries from Mexico]. continue reading

I asked them what they meant by a provocative activity and being “counterrevolutionary ringleaders,” because Coexistence is a project of study and thinking for the good of Cuba, and does not engage in provocations nor consider people to be “ringleaders.” These meetings are to think about solutions and proposals for the progress of our Nation and, in this specific meeting, it is to study the theme “Culture and Education in the future of Cuba.” He responded that it was an order from the high command of the Country and they would follow what is established, when and how they considered appropriate.

I asked if they were closing Coexistence, they told me no, but they would evaluate each activity we organized and would act as appropriate. I stated that I considered they were already carrying out the threat received at the interrogation summons from less than a month ago and which they assured me that “starting from today your life is going to be very difficult.”

Thus, continues the harassment of the Coexistence Studies Center that the Cuban authorities began as of 1 September 2016.

Dagoberto Valdes Hernandez

Director, Center for Coexistence Studies

Cuban Human Rights Group Denounces “Unstoppable Deterioration Of Civil And Political Rights” / 14ymedio

From today your life will be "very difficult", Dagoberto Valdes was warned by Cuban State Security (@mariojose_cuba) — From today your life will be “very difficult”, Dagoberto Valdes was warned by Cuban State Security (@mariojose_cuba)

14ymedio, Havana, 2 November 2016 — The arbitrary arrests of peaceful dissidents in Cuba marked the highest figure in the last three months in October, with 620 cases, according to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation’s (CCDHRN) monthly report, released Wednesday. The report also cites 17 physical assaults, 39 acts of police harassment and three instances of “repudiation” by the secret political police and vigilante groups.

“The repressive actions in recent months are indicative of a visible and unstoppable deterioration of the situation of civil and political rights and other fundamental rights in Cuba, despite the countless gestures of goodwill towards the regime that has ruled the island for nearly 60 years,” laments the document. “Meanwhile, the vast majority of the Cuban people continue to survive amid a lack of freedom, poverty and despair,” it.

In the first 10 months of 2016, 9,125 arrests were registered, a figure that exceeds the totals for each of the last six years. The CCDHRN is led by Elizardo Sanchez, who predicts that this year’s final count of arbitrary arrests will exceed 10,000 cases.

The CCDHRN mentioned the secret political police raid of October 21 on the hom e and office of a legal aid center in Pinar del Rio, also the site of the newsletter Panorama Pinareño, sponsored by the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press (ICLEP).

The report also addresses the threats against the Catholic layman Dagoberto Valdes, director of the Center for Coexistence Studies (CEC) of Pinar del Rio, which publishes a magazine with the same name.

From Today Your Life Will Be “Very Difficult,” State Security Tells Dagoberto Valdes / 14ymedio

Dagoberto Valdes was summoned on Thursday at one in the afternoon to the headquarters of the State Security Pinar del Rio. (@mariojose_cuba)

14ymedio, Havana, 28 October 2016 — The director of the Center for Coexistence Studies (CEC), Dagoberto Valdes, summoned to a meeting with State Security on Thursday, received “an official warning” which anticipates “the possibility of committing crimes against State Security as defined in the Penal Code.”

Valdes, who remained at the police headquarters on the San Juan road for two hours and fifteen minutes, explained to 14ymedio that the officials threatened him that “as of today” his life “would be very difficult” if one day “he was to incur one of these crimes.” The police mentioned as possible violations of the law the receipt of money from the United States for his activities, or the lack of a contribution to the treasury. The director of Coexistence affirmed that he had “received not even one cent from the United States government.” continue reading

Despite these warnings, Valdes affirmed that everything happened “in a serious and respectful climate” and that “there was no physical abuse” at any time.

“I came to this place [the headquarters of the State Security] on time and within minutes of the hour I was received by Lieutenant Colonel Osvaldo Labrador, head of the unit, and Major Joaquin” said Valdes in a statement received by this newspaper.

According to the director of Coexistence, on entering the unit he was led to “an interrogation room where the entire conversation was filmed.” In it, he said Lt. Col. Labrador told him that for “all these years” he had remained “at the razor’s edge between being a layman of the Church and being a counterrevolutionary.”

Accordingly, Valdes added by telephone, they advanced that if he “engages in counterrevolution” he would be “treated” accordingly, but not if he continues with “his profile as a Catholic layman and cares for the social objective of Coexistence” and he mentioned “2003, when the 75.”

At the end of the declaration, Valdes was taken to the “technical” room where they took his “finger and palm prints, an odor print of his pelvis and photos from the front and side,” and later took him to the infirmary. Despite telling Major Joaquin that he felt “in very good health,” they insisted on taking his blood pressure, which was stable.

Dagoberto Valdes is thankful “with all his heart, for the immense solidarity received from friends and brothers of many countries and institutions, as well as for the prayers of pastors and brothers of different faiths.”

The Coexistence Studies Center focuses on training for citizenship and civil society in Cuba. Among its activities is the publication of the magazine Convivencia (Coexistence), the discussion of proposals for the future of the island and the exchange ideas about our current situation.

Last September the members of Coexistence denounced that at least nine of them had been subjected to police interrogation. The activists were forced to suspend the My Neighborhood One Community program due to pressure from State Security, which included operations around several of their homes, arrests and the cutting of the cell phone service of event organizers.

Based in the province of Pinar del Rio, the independent entity is conceived as a think tank to “think about the national home we desire, to contribute to the reconstruction of the human person and the fabric of civil society.”

“God bless you!”: The Unusual ‘Goodbye’ from a Cuban Official to Dagoberto Valdes

14ymedio, Havana, 19 October 2016 – The director of the Center for Coexistence Studies (CEC), Dagoberto Valdes, presented himself at ten o’clock on Wednesday morning at the headquarters of the State Security at Kilometer 4.5 of the highway to San Juan in Pinar del Rio, after receiving a summons to “address legal issues.” The interview, however, only “lasted half a minute,” the intellectual told 14ymedio.

“We presented ourselves at Kilometer 4.5, which is like the Villa Marista [a harsh State Security prison in Hvana] of here, the whole Coexistence team and myself. I gave the receptionist the summons, and she asked me to wait a moment,” he explained. continue reading

According to the director of Coexistence, three minutes later an official who presented himself as the duty officer in charge of the unit came out and invited him to enter an office and, without even offering him a seat, told him that Lieutenant Colonel Osvaldo, with whom the interview had originally been scheduled, had to leave the province unexpectedly and so he was free to leave.

On leaving, Valdes explained, the captain in charge of the unit said, “God bless you!” to which he replied with a similar greeting.

“I take this opportunity to thank wholeheartedly the immense solidarity received from friends and brothers from many countries and institutions, as well as the prayers of pastors and brothers of different faiths,” Valdes said after the meeting.

“This summons to appear is a part of the measures for all kinds of people who have been called to speak to the police. Independent journalists, artists and bloggers, the self-employed, have experienced this new wave of repression,” he told14ymedio by phone.

This September, members of the Coexistence team reported that at least nine of them had been subjected to police interrogations. The activists were forced to suspend the program My Neighborhood A Community, due to pressure from State Security, which included operations stationing people around several homes, arrests and cutting cell phone service for event organizers.

Valdes said he did not fear the encounter with the authorities, because everything they do in the CEC “is transparent and for the good of Cuba.”

Valdes acknowledged that members of his team had been summoned to appear in recent weeks by police stations, “one to one”, so the only one missing was him.

“This is a step in the middle of the escalation we are experiencing. It is the first time they have cited me since the resumption of relations between the US and Cuba,” he added.

The Coexistence Studies Center focuses on training for citizenship and civil society in Cuba. Among its activities is the publication of the magazine Convivencia (Coexistence), the discussion of proposals for the future of the island, and the exchange ideas of about Cuba’s current situation.

Based in the province of Pinar del Rio, the independent entity is conceived as a think tank to “think about the national home that we desire, to contribute to the reconstruction of the human person and the fabric of civil society.”

Cuban State Security Prevents a Meeting of Pinar del Rio’s Coexistence Studies Center / 14ymedio, Mario Penton

Members of the Coexistence Studies Center at a meeting in Pinar del Rio. (Coexistence)

14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 23 September 2016 — Tania de la Caridad Reyes and her husbandYosvany Alfonso were intercepted by police in Pinar del Río when they tried to reach the Coexistence Studies Center (CEC) to attend the course “My Neighborhood a Community.” Two police patrols forced them to return to Cienfuegos, where they reside. On Friday the organizers denounced the intervention by State Security, which prevented the realization of the planned activity with various groups of civil society to share ideas on “civic learning.”

“This last month we have had nine interrogations of team members. Finally we had to suspend the ‘My Neighborhood a Community’ program, which is part of the ethical and civic project for the safety of the participants,” Dagoerto Valdes, director of the CEC, explains to 14ymedio.

“Where in the world are people prevented from attending a course that the only thing it does is make them better and more responsible citizens in their community?” asks Valdes. continue reading

Reyes and Alfonso are the ones responsible for “Project New Hope,” which operates in the South Caunao neighborhood, a recently completed residential area on the outskirts of the city of Cienfuegos. According to the couple, under the auspices of the Czech NGO People in Need they do training work with children and youth in the area, organize walks and create networks to promote work in the neighborhood.

“We chose this course because ours is community work and this meeting would allow us to obtain tools to improve our work in the neighborhood,” Reyes told 14ymedio.

According to the activist, when they arrived at the bus station in Pinar del Río Thursday night, three police officers in plainclothes stopped them and made them turn off their cellphones. After allowing them to make a call from a landline provided by the officers themselves, they were driven to the outskirts of the city to send them to Havana.

“They stopped two tractors that make the trip to Havana and sent us separately. They took down the license plates of the vehicles and told the drivers they were responsible for what happened to us,” says Reyes.

When they got to the capital they were left at a gas station from where they had to get to the bus station and get “overpriced” tickets to return to Cienfuegos. (The regular tickets are subsidized and cost about two CUC (about $2 US), but the huge waiting list forced them to buy the tickets under the table).

“When we learned what had happened with the group from Cienfuegos, we decided to suspend the meeting. We advised the ecological group Eco-Social Movement for the Protection of Nation and the Environment (PRONATON), which sent several delegates from Sancti Spiritus, and the Pinar del Rio group Independent and Democratic Cuba, which would also participate in the event,” explained Yoandy Izquierdo, member of the editorial board of the magazine Convivencia (Coexistence).

Izquierdo also denounced the presence of several people who were monitoring the place where the course would be held from early in the morning, and making it difficult for the organizers to communicate by phone and text message.

The Coexistence Studies Center organizes training courses for citizenship and civil society in Cuba. It has four main lines of action, ranging from the publication of the magazine Convivencia to the debate of ideas through reflection and study groups. It also has a comprehensive training program and so-called micro-projects. It is a project of the nascent Cuban civil society and its members are totally independent of the State, the Church and any political group.

Dissidents Call Meeting With Obama Positive And Give Him A List Of Political Prisoners / EFE, 14ymedio

Barack Obama meeting with dissidents in Havana on Tuesday. (14ymedio)

EFE (14ymedio), Havana, 22 March 2016 – Several dissidents who met with President Barack Obama in Havana this Tuesday, assessed the meeting as “positive” and “frank,” and one of them delivered a list of 89 political prisoners recorded by the group he leads.

Elizardo Sanchez, spokesman for the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN), said Obama was “very clear” and reiterated to the participants at the meeting “his commitment to the cause of human rights and democratic freedoms.”

Sanchez explained that during the dialogue with the US president, he handed him a copy of the list of 89 political prisoners prepared by his group, continue reading

the only one that undertakes an ongoing documentation of these cases in Cuba.

For veteran government opponent, the balance of Obama’s visit to the island was “favorable to the cause of bilateral democracy” but he lamented that far from encouraging an “atmosphere of calm” the Cuban government unleashed “a wave of political repression” which, according to the records of his group translates to between 450 and 500 arrests across the island between Saturday and today.

For his part, the former political prisoner of the 2003 Black Spring “Group of 75,” Jose Daniel Ferrer, one of the thirteen government opponents invited to the meeting, described as “very positive” the meeting because “it was a show of solidarity with those of us who are fighting for the reconstruction of the nation.

“We talked about the process initiated with the Cuban government to normalize bilateral relations, also about his visit, and we also had the opportunity to make suggestions and give opinions on issues that we believe should continue to be pursued and what should not be done in this case,” said Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU).

Miriam Leiva, also invited to the event, considered it “very open” because the president listened to the participants who “could express their views on the current situation of repression and human rights in Cuba” and also he made comments.

“There were some who raised positions contrary to the policies of President Obama, but in the end he expounded on his views about what he is doing and what he can do to benefit the Cuban people,” said the independent journalist.

In her opinion, the fact that Barack Obama set aside a space in his busy schedule of about 48 hours in Havana for this meeting at the US embassy, represented “recognition and support” for the Cuban opposition.

Antonio González-Rodiles, who heads the Independent Estado de Sats (State of Sats) project, said the meeting was “very frank” and led to a debate in which “everyone raised their point of view and President Obama heard the different positions.”

Rodiles, critical of the new US approach to Cuba, said he told Obama his doubts about the process of normalization of relations and the “enormous level of violence and repression” in recent times.

He also criticized that “we have not heard from their government a clear condemnation regarding these excessive violations against the dissidence.”

Also at the meeting dissidents and activists such as the leader of the Ladies in White, Berta Soler; Guillermo Fariñas; Manuel Cuesta Morua, of the Progressive Arc; and the critical intellectual Dagoberto Valdes.

In brief remarks to reporters about the meeting, Obama said that one of the objectives of the normalization begun with Cuba is to be able to “hear directly” from the Cuban people and ensure that they also “have a voice” in the new stage initiated between the two countries fifteen months ago.

Note: Cuban dissidents, independent journalists and human rights activists present at the meeting were: Angel Yunier Remon, Antonio Rodiles, Juana Mora Cedeno, Jose Daniel Ferrer, Laritza Diversent, Berta Soler, Dagoberto Valdes Hernandez, Guillermo Fariñas, Nelson Alvarez Matute, Miriam Celaya Gonzales, Manuel Cuesta Morua, Miriam Leiva Viamonte, Elizardo Sanchez.