I cannot get used, and I will not stop denouncing and demanding, whenever I know about a savage act consented to by the government, which does not condemn the punishable, and the complicit silence of social institutions, particularly CENESEX*, which advocates respect for the law, and especially UNEAC**, the victim being on this occasion Luisa Rubio, a female artist.
These female intellectuals who recently were the standard-bearers of a campaign against gender violence, how do they manage to continue living, full of guilt? This incident has a range beyond a gender issue, it comprises a humanistic feeling, and it is alarming that members of society assume behaviors that border on savagery. A Revolutionary does not abuse, does not volunteer to join a horde to beat helpless fellow citizens, then, what kind of Revolution they are talking about on official speeches?
I cannot keep looking at the pictures of Ana Luisa beaten, it hurts so much , it hurts deeply, I feel it on my own flesh, I’m really angry, anger explodes within my heart. I can better endure my rights being trampled on, than this being done to a family member or a friend, that means the same to me, and even to a stranger.
I decided to be an opponent because I rise up against abuses, and so I’m willing to die in the attempt. Nothing justifies violence, but in Ana Luisa’s case, we are talking about a woman, kind and sensitive. She exudes kindness. On several occasions I visited her, I was able to observe the surveillance they kept at her home, both on the part who was on duty at the premises of the Communist Party which is located in front of her home, as well as her neighbors, because they do it fully exposed.
Ana Luisa told me that when she has tried to report the abuses, refusing to leave the police station without being heard, she has been hustled by force, going as far by throwing her down the stairs causing severe fractures. Whoever observes the marks of the beating, will understand how inhuman the attackers were. The way they did it, it is clear that the attack was premeditated, using little children to ring the bell, pretending to annoy her, they made her come out and they committed their wrongdoing.
I will ask again intellectuals and artists, until they listen to me, that they adopt the honorable stance that this country is demanding and people need as a guide.
With regard to the actress and human rights activist, Ana Luisa Rubio, we should await that justice comes, which will knock infallibly on everyone’s door.
Ángel Santiesteban-Prats
Lawton Prison Settlement. September 2013
Translator’s notes:
*CENESEX is the Center for Sex Education, which is run by Raul’s daughter, Mariela Castro.
**UNEAC is the Writers and Artists Union of Cuba
Translated by Gualdo Hidalgo, Executiveeditor@latinhf.com
16 September 2013
