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

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, 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 26th and 27th 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 60th anniversary of the landing of the [yacht] Granma [that brought Fidel and Raul Castro and other revolutionaries from Mexico].

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