Violence Outside the Law / Cuban Law Association, Odalina Guerrero Lara

Lic. Odalina Guerrero Lara

Law No. 59 of the Cuban Civil Code sets out:

Article 129.1 – Property confers on the title holder the possession, use, enjoyment of and disposal of the assets, in accordance with its intended socio-economic use.

Rolando González Camacho received from his grandfather Eufemio González Martínez a property situated at Apartment 4 of building 19213a, fronting onto Avenue 81 between 102 and 194, Alturas de la Lisa Neighborhood, Havana.

The said property was awarded, according to Deed number 1120 by way of Gift, issued in the City of Havana the 25th August 2009 before Licenciado Uber Rae Arias Rodríguez who was Notary at 4604, 37th Street in the Playa Municipality.

Rolando, in spite of his 30 years of age, is legally represented by his mother and stepfather, as he suffers from hepatitis C, partial epilepsy symptomatic of the frontal lobe, neuroblastic migration disorder and bronchial asthma; according to a medical certificate issued 23rd June 2013 by Dr. Víctor Raúl Frades García of the neurological consultancy at the Havana Salvador Allende Hospital.

His infirmities do not limit his conversational ability, given that when I turn up at his house, he speaks happily and expresses his regret that his grandfather left him a property in which he couldn’t even cook since the next door neighbour María del Pilar Olivera Delgado, taking advantage of a period when the property was empty, broke down a dividing wall and taking over a part of his property.

He says he has spoken to María del Pilar Olivera Delgado asking that she remove herself, because he doesn’t want problems with his parents and is afraid of the police.

In August 2009, Rolando issued a SPECIAL POWER, before a notary in the name of his stepfather Jorge Luis García Casañas, his legal representative. García Casañas has made claims in relation to all stages of the proceedings, in order to get them out of his property, not just the person who in August 2011 broke the wall and illegally entered Rolando’s home, but also another two people who joined María del Pilar Olivera Delgado in this unbelievable violation.

Furthermore, the failure of the relevant bodies in this case has been contradictory and completely lacking in clarity.

The legal absurdity of giving support to illegalities committed in his home, has caused Rolando González Camacho damage which may be irreparable, given the effects he is experiencing in his health.

The obvious question therefore  is: who takes responsibility for the situation of this fellow countryman who is suffering torture in his own home?

Translated by GH

2 August 2013

A Life With Dignity / Cuban Law Association, Odalina Guerrero Lara

By Odalina Guerrero Lara

The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba establishes:

Article 41: All citizens enjoy equal rights and are subject to equal duties.

Dignity is a inherent value of rational human beings, providing liberty and creative power, so people can shape and improve their lives through making decisions and exercising their liberty.  Human beings posess dignity from within themselves, it doesn’t come from external factors or individuals, they have it from the instant of their fertilization or conception and it is inalienable.

I am an ordinary Cuban; daily life, the coming and going of things and the situation of my country hits me; but for my family life becomes very difficult when they discriminate for reasons of conscience against people like me, who belong to an organization such as the Cuban Law Association, or for their political opinion.

Today Cuba is going through a process of change, and in changing the mentality of human beings, I hope it achieves fulfillment of what is stated in this article of the Fundamental Law and at least doesn’t impede me in enjoying the rights and responsibilities that are by law given to Cuban citizens, considering that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, invokes in its Preamble the intrinsic dignity (…) of all the members of the human family, to later affirm that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

28 July 2013

Unprotected Widow / Odalina Guerrero Lara #Cuba

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERALic. Odalina Guerrero Lara

Neida Lafita Moreira, Cuban citizen, housewife, 53 years old, who, because of her state of health, hasn’t any ties to employment, permanent resident of San Antonio de los Baños, widow since 21st August 2012, turns up, in desperation at the AJC for legal advice or support, as her husband, when he died, had a work connection with the Héroes de Yaguajay Agricultural Production Co-operative in the Municipality of Alquízar, in Artemisa province. continue reading

Let’s look at the treatment she received as a widow. Her nearest relatives appeared before the managers who had been designated to look at her case; fifteen days passed, she personally attended, and the President of the cooperative inappropriately told her “Madam, we don’t give out check books here,” and then the person dealing with matters to do with social security handed over to her the employee’s work record, claiming he couldn’t do anything for her, as well as other matters which supported the administration’s position.

Having regard to the vulnerable state in which Neida Lafita Moreira finds herself, without the ability to contract legal services from any law office in order to be represented in making a claim, she takes the petition forward, representing herself, on the basis of:

Cuban Communist Party’s Employment Objective, Guideline Number 16.

Require and confirm that in institutions and in the Party itself, complaints and reports and other matters brought forward by the people are to be dealt with promptly and properly and the responses are to be provided with due accuracy and speed.

Backed up by:

The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, which stipulates:

ARTICLE 47 – By way of the Social Security System, the State guarantees adequate protection to all employees unable to work as a result of age, infirmity or sickness.

In the case of the employee’s death, similar protection is guaranteed to his family.

Law No. 105 of Social Security.

ARTICLE 1 – The state guarantees adequate protection for the employee, his family and the population in general by way of the Social Security System, which comprises of a general system of social security, a system of social assistance, as well as special systems.

For the deceased having been an employee of an agricultural production co-operative, he is subject to the provisions of special systems. At the time of his death, all provisions of the Legal Decree 127 of 1991 were wholly in force, as a body of law applicable to the case of the widow Neida Lafita Moreira.

In November 2012 reports were presented containing the pertinent claims to the following bodies in Alquízar:

  • President of the National Association of Small Farmers
  • Public Service Specialist of the municipal Administrative Council
  • Cuban Communist Party’s Specialist dealing with Co-operatives
  • Head of the Social Security Department
  • Legal Adviser of the Héroes de Yaguajay Agricultural Production Co-operative.

Neida Lafita Moreira continues to be UNPROTECTED by the Social Security

 Translated by GH

January 26 2013

Freedom of Conscience / Cuban Law Association, Odalina Guerrero Lara

By Lic. Odalina Guerrero Lara

In Article 55 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, it establishes that: the State, that recognizes, respects and guarantees freedom of conscience…

There is no doubt as to these three aspects: RECOGNIZE, RESPECT AND GUARANTEE on the part of the State for Freedom of Conscience.

What I learned one day as an Attorney is that I am denied this by the actions of Cuban Government officials. Conscience implies being aware and is established in the Basic Law, that I have freedom of conscience, so why do they continue harassing me?

  • On 13 September 2011, when I was interviewed by agents of State Security, they threatened to demoralize me before the Cuban people, my family and especially my children for the mere fact of belonging to the Cuban Law Association and being in compliance with the purposes for which it was created.
  • Since July of this year they have been bothering me about the issue of MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS, someting about which I always answered I have nothing to argue, bring, signal, much less get involved in everything that has to do with that topic.
  • Different officials have been assigned to deal with me and have appeared my house and have intercepted my family on the street to tell me the reasons why I should be involved in the election process.
  • As a CUBAN CITIZEN WITH FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE, I ask for respect for my constitutional rights, to act as I think, and not to be forced by law to get involved in local elections in Cuba.

October 29 2012