José Antonio Cue was convicted of “sabotage” and “public disorder” for demonstrating on June 11 in Cárdenas, Matanzas
14ymedio, Havana, 16 September 2024 — José Antonio Cue escaped from Cuba by sea almost two years ago to avoid prison. As he told the Telemundo 51 channel, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime of “sabotage” and another two for “public disorder” due to his participation in the 11 July 2021 (11J) demonstrations in Cárdenas, Matanzas.
According to the database compiled by Cubalex and Justicia 11J, Cue was also sentenced to pay “joint and several” compensation of almost one and a half million pesos “for stolen and damaged merchandise, fixed assets, and damaged and lost utensils, broken pump and glass, as well as labor employed” at the Cimex state store in Cárdenas.
Born in 1993 and the father of a son, Cue embarked with other Cubans on a rustic raft that they built with 55-gallon tanks
Born in 1993 and the father of a son, Cue embarked with other Cubans, who he did not identify nor offer any other details about, on a rustic raft that they built with 55-gallon tanks. “It was that, throw myself into the sea or go to jail,” said the Cuban, who upon arriving in the United States received an I-220B form and who now faces a deportation order, which can be executed at any time
“If I go back, I will lose my freedom,” said this Cuban who says that in the US he feels free and has managed to establish himself. In Cue, his escape from the island is very present. “Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking that I am still escaping from Cuba,” he said.
He also does not want to return to prison, where he says he spent four months before his trial. “Those prisons are the most disgusting thing you can see. There is no water, cockroaches crawl on your body. There is a smell of urine. It is a locked room, without ventilation, humid, that is the most hellish thing there is,” he said.
Regarding the protests, he said that “rumors began to be heard that there were demonstrations on Calle Real, in Cárdenas. I see that, the people demonstrating, unleashed like I had never seen before.”
Cue decided to join the protests, which he said were violently repressed by the police, because “they had lost control.” Faced with the crowd, he said, “the police were afraid.”
Cue decided to join the protests, which he said were violently repressed by the police, because “they had lost control”
Immigration attorney Eduardo Soto, who took on Cue’s case, is working to overturn the deportation order. Although the rafter has presented documents proving that he fled Cuba because of repression, he remains fearful.
Recently, in August, the deportation of Cuban Vivian Limonta was recorded. She was deported along with 47 other Cubans on a flight from the United States. “I am happy about everything you have been through,” an official at the José Martí International Airport told her.
Cuba has received 1,046 deportees from different countries between January and August 29. In April 2023, deportation flights were resumed, mainly for people considered “inadmissible” after being detained at the US-Mexico border.
According to a recent report by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP), 17,563 Cubans arrived in the United States in June, the lowest number during a calendar month of the current fiscal year 2024, which began last October.
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