Prison Diary XXXII: My Gratitude / Angel Santiesteban

Making a cut in the first quarter of a month in prison, I must thank in principle, the tantrum of the Castro brothers for my blog, for my opposition to the system, which led them to create a terrible judicial process against me that imprisoned me without proofs, and for having been convicted in advance by Agent Camilo of State Security, before the Court ruled.

I must also be grateful for the opportunity to share the pain of so many Cubans, mostly young people not able to leave the country or see any option other than crime, given that the spectrum of opportunities for young people is infinitesimal. I should also be grateful for the invaluable opportunity brought to me by power to conduct this sociological study of the problems in the nation from this “privileged” scenario, because here in this horrific concentration camp, everything is exposed.

Being here has allowed me to corroborate one more time that my attitude towards power is correct, and I will not stop denouncing the abuses and irresponsibility of the Government toward its citizens.

To top it off, during these four months of confinement, I have maintained the level of complaints because the violations of the human rights they commit daily, because there is no day when they don’t beat the prisoners, who although fainting, continue to be badly beaten; because the food, which I have never accepted, is terrible with fetid odors, badly processed, lacking refrigeration, in short, pestilent; because the overcrowding reigns, because hygiene is non-existent.

Despite all this daily calamity, I have finished three novels and a book of short stories. By the way, the last I wrote was seized by Major Llorente, the “unit’s politico,” in reprisal because in Paris he read a story of mine, at an event that paid tribute to imprisoned and persecuted writers. Thank God it was a work I’d managed to get out with my family, and it is well-protected. As a gift, when I have it completely finished, I am thinking of giving him a copy, precisely because it talks about his horrors in the prison to which I have been confined.

Ángel Santiesteban-Prats
Prison 1580

Editors’ note: The day after tomorrow, June 28, Angel Santiesteban will complete 4 months in prison, months in which he has contributed in an exemplary way to denouncing all the abuses committed in Cuba which the world, with its complicit silence, blesses. The most difficult 4 months that he has served with absolute dignity, with his head held high and looking into his eyes, with the peaceful spirit a peaceful conscience provides. He is “doing” and writing the story that few dare to tell. We, his family and friends, are very proud of him. God bless him!

26 June 2013