14ymedio, Havana, 12 November 2021 — Yahima Díaz, a member of the Archipiélago group that convened the Civic March for Change and a resident of Consolación del Sur (Pinar del Río), was detained this Thursday for several hours in a police station for placing a white rose on a bust of José Martí.
The opposition platform has not given more information so far about what happened during her arrest, although she planned to report minutes after communicating her release, just at 7:00 in the evening. The activist confirmed shortly after that she will detail the facts this Friday.
The moderator and psychologist had been one of the signatories of the request for the march in Consolación del Sur, at which point she suffered harassment and intimidation by the authorities. Díaz was summoned to the police station on several occasions, the last time this Wednesday.
Aware of the difficulties in marching on the 15th, Díaz decided to go on foot, dressed in white and carrying a rose to her appointment with the National Revolutionary Police this Thursday, a gesture similar to that announced by Yunior García Aguilera for this coming Sunday the 14th. The activist recorded a video in which it can be seen how she makes the journey, stops along the way and places the flower on the monument to the Cuban hero. Immediately afterwards, a State Security agent removes the flower.
The images do not have sound due to technical difficulties, but in them it is possible to observe how there is no provocation or alteration of order, nor does Díaz try to seek support from others. However, the authorities boycott the gesture.
The activist went to her “interview” later on her own feet at 9:00 am, at which point Archipiélago lost contact with her. After 5:00 pm, the platform reported her disappearance, although an hour later it was able to confirm that she was already outside the police premises.
“We have just achieved communication with Yahima, he is already on his way home. We will be giving more information about this event in the next few minutes,” the group reported on its Facebook page, although so far it has not been known what happened in the hours in which Díaz was held.
“Episodes like this are the prelude to the violent repression that the Cuban Government is preparing for those who decide to attend the peaceful demonstration called by Archipiélago for November 15,” the platform said in a statement.
The activists are prepared for the probable episodes of repression that may occur since the Government has not stopped issuing messages that warn of the consequences of marching on 15N through all the instruments at their disposal, from Justice and the media of communication to the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR).
Archipiélago has insisted on organizing alternative activities to the demonstration in case the march turns dangerous. Among these mechanisms is the wearing of white clothes, applause at a designated time or the television blackout, all of these symbols that allow us to notice the support that the movement has without putting, a priori, the participants at risk.
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