Victoria Martínez insists that the accusatory testimonies are full of contradictions and have sanctioned relatives who provide versions different from the official one.
14ymedio, Havana, 18 May 2024 — The trial that began last Wednesday against the young people who protested against the Government in 2023 in Caimanera, Guantánamo, “is rigged.” The complaint was made on social networks by Victoria Martínez Valdivia, mother of two of those prosecuted for public disorder, instigation to commit a crime, and attacks, alleging that there are inconsistencies in the statements provided by the Prosecutor’s Office.
In a video shared by CubaNet, the mother of Luis Miguel Alarcón Martínez and Felipe Octavio Correa Martínez, who each face six-year sentences and had an oral hearing this Wednesday in the Municipal People’s Court of Niceto Pérez, maintained that the statements of the witnesses against the six defendants do not coincide with statements made a year ago.
Additionally, she pointed out that her daughter was fined for no apparent reason after testifying in favor of the detainees due to an alleged inconsistency between her current testimony and the one she offered a year ago, when the process began. In contrast, four other people who also testified, but against the young people, and who at the beginning of the trial maintained different stories than those they had originally given to the Police, did not receive any sanction.
The activist recounted how the Prosecutor’s Office alleges that her daughter, who testified on behalf of her brothers and the rest of the detainees, had accused them of the charges
“They read her (the testimony) from a year ago, where she did not agree with the statement, because (she maintained) that she had said that the boys, mainly her brother Luis Miguel, had said: ‘down with the dictatorship,’ ‘down with the Government’. And she says, ‘no, at no time did I say that my brother said that,'” Martínez Valdivia said.
The mother also confirmed that the activist and independent journalist Yeris Curbelo Aguilera was intimidated by State Security last Wednesday, so that he left immediately after he arrived at the courthouse with the intention of covering the case. The courthouse is about 45 minutes from the city of Caimanera.
The mother (and activist) also said that the trial lasted eight hours and reiterated that at all times she was surrounded by a strong military operation that controlled each of the aspects surrounding the process, as 14ymedio reported this Friday, and remarked on the prohibition of using cell phones under threat from the political police.
In an interview with Diario de Cuba, Martínez Valdivia alleged that the defense did a good job in front of the court, despite not having good communication with the family members. “I consider that the lawyer made a good defense, even though I had distrusted of him based on the little communication we have had this year,” she emphasized.
The trial against the six young people for whom the Prosecutor’s Office requests sentences ranging between nine and four years
The trial against the six young people for whom the Prosecutor’s Office requests sentences ranging between nine and four years, is part of the regime’s response to the anti-government protests that in May 2023 shook the municipality of Caimanera, to demand freedom and a dignified life for the population of the area, close to the United States military base in Guantánamo.
From the beginning, the demonstration faced an aggressive response from the Government, which did not hesitate to use force to repress the protests by sending the so-called “black berets” (Special Forces) into the streets, and cutting off access to communications.
The campaign to discredit those who took to the streets continues to this day thanks to the official media, which tries to reduce the events to an “unusual demonstration” of a few dozen people with signs of having consumed “alcoholic beverages.” The same accusation, to which is added that of “promoting chaos,” appears in the prosecutor’s petition released by the relatives of the detainees.
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