Keep on eye on the blog Pieces of the Island, for up-to-minute reports of repression associated with Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Cuba.
Here are some “highlights” since the last report re-posted here.
Benedict XVI Will Arrive to “a Nation in which Communism Has Left Behind Devastating Destruction”
Former political prisoner of conscience Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, national coordinator of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) reports:
“I’d tell the Pope not to forget during his visit to our country that he is visiting a nation in which communism, Marxist-Leninism, has left behind devastating destruction. That he pronounce himself because of this and that, in his homilies, he remember that we Cubans live without freedom, without rights, and that repression against the people is worse every time. I also would remind him that many Cubans will not be able to assist his Mass because the political police already has them detained in inhumane conditions in police units, or they are surrounded in their homes. A large number of these Cubans are devout Catholics and the dictatorship is violating their rights. We wish that Pope Benedict XVI will have this present during his stay in Cuba”.
Jose Daniel Ferrer Narrates Increase of Repression in Eastern Cuban Hours Before Papal Visit
With less than 24 hours until Pope Benedict’s visit to Cuba, the arrests of Ladies in White and other dissidents in Cuba have dramatically increased, according to the former political prisoner of conscience Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, coordinator of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU). “These arrests are multiplying as we come closer to the first mass which Pope Benedict XVI will offer in Santiago de Cuba“, said the activist, referring to the mass on Monday, March 26th and 5:30 PM.
Ferrer cited that in the East, up to the moment (the afternoon of Sunday, March 25th), there have been “60 arrests for political reasons, out which 19 are Ladies in White“. He added that there are more cases of arrests but that he is still confirming the details.
26 March 2012
