And Now Against Eriberto Liranza Romero / Jorge Luis García Pérez Antunez

Young people from the Cuban Youth Movement for Democracy with Eriberto Liranza

Now it was the turn of Eriberto Liranza Romero. Now is he whom we have to discredit, destroy and above all to make his brothers in the struggle to lose confidence in him. The smear campaign to discredit and destroy Liranza, unlike those against other members of the resistance, has a more insidious and serious side. And cowards and opportunists who have been given the unscrupulous task of reaching out to some embassies to deliver reports and gossip against the undisputed leader of the most sensitive and important sector of the Cuban opposition: the youth. Eriberto chairs the Cuban Youth Movement for Democracy.

Eriberto, despite his short time as a civic activist and not being as well-known, has proven to be a natural leader which thus arouses the jealousy of some which is used by the political police attack and discredit him.

I am a faithful witness to the unifying effect of this young Christian and of the repressive arsenal of tyranny that is spent against him unlike some that have been hidden to say “that Eriberto and his constant protests and making noise have put him at the center of things in the neighborhood.”

Yes, if that is what someone says from the opposition and in certain places they give priority to trying to stop him, then he is truly a youth leader. The last straw is that certain little characters attack Eriberto and the Front, people who are astute collaborators with the political police with this novel method of collaboration that consists of joining with our oppressors to report how many activists will participate in this or that meeting or event. And in the worst case, a certain individual in the capital gave the officers who besiege the corners of his home, a list of people who may or may not join in the activity.

I have a friend who on getting out of the prison suffered a bitter disappointment that unfortunately took away from the opposition, when, hours after he was released he went to the capital to visit his brothers of the organization and was arrested at the corner of the site, unable to get home because there was a meeting of opponents and officials intercepted him and will not let him even get close because he was not in the list of participants, to wit approved by the political police.

It is unfortunate that in some places they are closing the doors to men like Eriberto Liranza who doesn’t give way and promotes democracy through acts of civil disobedience, so that his home is under siege, and he is systematically arrested and beaten. However, the odd bourgeois, alarmed because of the protests and acts of Eriberto have perverted the district and will receive promotions to adulterated projects, which are limited to photos, little meetings, in short to these underhanded compromises that some make with the State Security.

A week ago some police officers were given the task of writing letters apparently written by Eriberto Liranza attacking the Ladies in White and other opponents. But the strategy is absurd and no longer has the desired effect of the institution that spawned it.

But what most infuriates and annoys the friends and brothers of Eriberto’s struggle is not the smear campaign orchestrated against him, we are already accustomed to the Communists doing this, but that officials of rank, prestige, and even knowledge and experience are falling into the trap of playing the game to damage the reputation of those who with no intention of notoriety, fame or recognition are at the forefront of the struggle and pro-democracy activism in Cuba. And they know well, our Front will not allow them to continue attacking any of our brothers and to echo the lies. Whoever serves the executioner, let them come…

February 12 2012