|
| |
Secuestrado y
Amenazado por la Seguridad Del Estado de Cuba el Activista
Bernardo Arevalo Padron Por Denunciar el Asesinato De
Disidente Miembro del Movimiento Democracia Mientras Estaba
Detenido
Miami, 18
de Noviembre del 2007 - Los agentes de la Seguridad del
Estado de Cuba han pasado de la
 amenaza
verbal contra los disidentes cubano Bernardo Arevalo Padron
y Pedro Larena Ibañez, miembro del Movimiento Democracia en
Aguada de Pasajeros, a un intento de secuestro en contra del
primero, con el aparente proposito de hacerlo desaparecer
para que no continue denunciando el asesinato contra el
miembro del Movimiento Democracia, Manuel Acosta Larena,
asesinado a golpes por la policia politica del regimen en un
calabozo y despues colgado con sus propios pantalones,
despues de haber sido arrestado por estar haciendo una
campaña de recogidas de firmas para soliciatar la liberacion
de los prisioneros politicos y de conciencia en el pais.
Bernardo Arevalo Padron
fue introducido en un automovil de la Seguridad del Estado y
esposado de inmediato por el Mayor de la Seguridad, Erasmo
Luis Leonarte Perez y un Mayor de apellido Guerra asi como
un oficial de nombre "Ariel", quienes le reprocharon
sus denuncias en el caso de Manuel Arenal y le indicaron el
proposito de hacerlo desaparecer.
Durante el viajel,
Bernardo Arevalo Padron logro lanzarse del vehiculo en
movimiento en un punto donde habian congregadas personas, y
comenzo a gritarle a las personas su identidad y las
intenciones de los agentes del gobierno que lo llevaban
secuestrado. Esto impidio su muerte, segun opina el
propio Arevalo Padron.
El episodio pudo haberle
salvado la vida de manera momentanea a Bernardo, pero los
agentes continuaron profiriendo amenazas contra su
integridad fisica si no se calla y deja de denunciar el
asesinato de Manuel Acosta Larena.
Mientras el secuestro y
escape de Arevalo Padron tenia lugar, Pedro Larena Ibañez,
primo de Manuel Acosta Larena, era arrestado por la
Seguridad del Estado y amenazado tambien.
Las amenazas no son nuevas
en este caso. Bernardo habia sido amenazado
anteriormente, como tambien Yordis Garcia, Sub-director
Ejecutivo en Cuba del Movimiento Democracia, quien ademas
fue agredido fisicamente. Junto con ellos ha sido
amenzado tambien el periodista independiente, Guillemo
Fariña, cuya voz en favor del pueblo cubano es ampliamente
conocida.
El Movimiento Democracia
advierte al regimen cubano que si algo le sucediera a
Bernardo, a Pedro, a Yordis o a Guillermo, el mundo conocera
de estos crimenes, como esta conociendo del crimen contra
Manuel Acosta Larena. Nuestra voz no se callara ante
los asesinatos de cubanos integros que buscan, a traves de
medios pacificos, terminar con la opresion a que es sometido
el pueblo de Cuba por los hermanos Castro.
Campaign for Cuban Dissidents Held
at Guantanamo Naval Base Ends Successfully and They
End Hunger Strike
"If there is courage on the side of the Cuban detainees
who did the hunger strike to appeal to the conscience of the
US authorities to resolve the case of their prolonged
detention in the Base,, there is also courage on the side of
the most powerful nation on Earth when it decides to listen
to the request of those who do not have a voice. Our
gratitude to the Government of the United States for
agreeing to listen to their concerns, and expediting a
resolution of their cases". Statement to the Press by
Ramon Saul Sanchez, President of the Democracy Movement when
announcing the end of hunger strike in Guantanamo Base.
Posted on Fri, Aug. 17, 2007
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
AP Hispanic Affairs Writer
MIAMI - Cubans held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo
Bay ended their hunger strike Friday after learning that
they would receive visas to go to either the U.S., Hungary
or a third country, a Miami-based exile group said.
The 17 hunger-strikers were entering their 20th day of
fasting to protest their conditions and Washington's refusal
to let them settle in the United States, said Ramon Saul
Sanchez, head of the group Democracy Movement, which has
long supported those seeking to leave Cuba.
"They called me, and they were in a circle passing the
phone," he said. "They were thanking us. They were very
happy."
The hunger strikers are among 44 Cubans picked up by U.S.
Coast Guard officials at sea. But because U.S. authorities
deemed the migrants at risk of persecution if they returned
to Cuba, they were held at the base while officials sought a
third country to take them. Many were dissidents and some
had been there for more than two years.
Five of the Cubans already held U.S. visas and were given
the green light to come to the United States, Sanchez said.
Another 29 were accepted by Hungary, and seven others were
still awaiting word that a third country would accept them.
One man decided to return to Cuba on his own for family
reasons, Sanchez said.
The status of one couple, who were offered Hungarian
visas but apparently refused them, was unclear, he said.
Under Washington's so-called wet-foot, dry-foot policy,
Cubans who make it to U.S. soil are generally allowed to
stay, while those caught at sea are sent home.
Sanchez said he was relieved to hear the hunger-strikers
had stopped. Two of the Cubans quit the hunger strike last
week after being hospitalized with health problems.
"State Department never comments on refugee cases," a
State Department official said.
Some of the Cubans had complained about head counts and
aggressive searches for contraband, but the group was
allowed to move freely about the Navy base and have access
to e-mail. They sleep in dormitory-style lodgings and some
hold jobs on the base and even attend school. They have no
contact with the approximately 360 men detained in another
section of Guantanamo on suspicion of terrorism or links to
al-Qaida and the Taliban.
Ramón Saúl Sánchez: el Gandhi del exilio
cubano
|
|
Foto de
archivo (17/01/06) del activista del exilio cubano Ramón Saúl Sánchez
durante la huelga de hambre que realizó a principios de año en
Miami.Enarbolando el principio de la no violencia y casi sin recursos
financieros, Sánchez se ha convertido en el rostro más visible del exilio
cubano en EEUU.EFE-Ricardo Ferro |
Por Sonia Osorio
Agencia EFE
Con escasos recursos financieros, enarbolando el
principio de la no violencia y utilizando los ayunos como herramienta para su
activismo, Ramón Saúl Sánchez se ha convertido en el rostro más visible del
exilio cubano en EEUU.
En su larga trayectoria, Sánchez, presidente del "Movimiento Democracia" ha
realizado cuatro huelgas de hambre, varias campañas de desobediencia civil,
flotillas frente a las costas cubanas y ha estado preso unas siete veces por su
activismo.
Estrategias que le han permitido defender los derechos de algunos de sus
compatriotas cuando el fantasma de la repatriación ronda sus travesías por el
peligroso Estrecho de Florida.
El activista, nacido en Colón, Matanzas, se incorporó a la lucha
anticastrista a los 15 años, después de que su madre lo enviara al destierro en
los "Vuelos de la libertad" a través de los cuales unos 300.000 cubanos
arribaron a EEUU entre 1965 y 1973.
"Tristemente mi patria vive la terrible soledad de la opresión, el
desgarramiento de las familias y la violación de su soberanía. Desde que tuve
uso de razón me di cuenta que no se puede vivir conociendo esa realidad cruzado
de brazos", dijo.
Sánchez comenzó en un grupo paramilitar de Miami que en la década de los años
60 y 70 estaba a favor de derrocar al presidente cubano Fidel Castro con métodos
violentos.
Tras pasar cuatro años y medio en una prisión federal por "negarme a
testificar ante un gran jurado federal que investigaba un presunto atentado a
Castro en Nueva York, en 1980", decidió que la violencia no era el camino
adecuado.
"Concluí que cuando saliera de la cárcel convencería a los cubanos de luchar
utilizando la no violencia", dijo quien se ha divorciado cinco veces por la
pasión que le dedica a su activismo.
El cubano, que acumula sus días de vacaciones para los ayunos y otras
actividades de su lucha, se inspira en Mahatma Gandhi, el icono mundial de la no
violencia; en Martin Luther King, el líder negro de los derechos civiles; y en
José Martí, prócer de la independencia de Cuba.
Al principio le costó convencer a una comunidad que tenía muchas heridas,
pero luego algunos se incorporaron y actualmente la organización cuenta con una
cuadrilla de aviones y una flotilla.
Su primer acto de desobediencia civil lo realizó en 1994 en contra de la
política migratoria hacia Cuba, con monedas de 50 centavos e igual número de
personas en una autopista de Miami.
"Nos colocamos simultáneamente en las casillas del peaje, lanzamos las
monedas y apagamos los motores. Esto lo hicimos tres meses hasta que nos
apresaron", recordó en su destartalada oficina, empapelada con fotos de presos
políticos cubanos.
Sánchez fue uno de los artífices del boleto a la libertad de los cubanos
conocidos internacionalmente como los "Camionautas" y los "Balseros del Puente".
Los "Camionautas" fueron interceptados por guardacostas en el 2003 cuando
trataban de alcanzar las costas de Florida en un camión Chevrolet de 1951,
adaptado como embarcación. El caso se resolvió enviando a tres de los cubanos,
que habían tramitado sus visas de EEUU sin éxito, a la base de Guantánamo y
luego los acogió un tercer país.
Una acción similar emprendió con los "Balseros del Puente", que llegaron a un
antiguo puente de los Cayos de Florida en enero pasado y los repatriaron con el
argumento de que la estructura no estaba conectada a tierra firme.
La decisión impedía a los "balseros" beneficiarse del decreto presidencial
"pies secos, pies mojados", que permite quedarse en el país a los cubanos que
tocan tierra y repatriar a los interceptados en el mar.
Sánchez elevó el caso ante un tribunal y realizó una huelga de hambre de 12
días exigiendo la revisión del decreto que considera "injusto e inhumano".
Se anotó otro triunfo: un juez dictaminó que se cometió un error al
repatriarlo, se les otorgó visa a catorce de ellos y Washington accedió a una
reunión sobre el decreto. "El elemento fundamental en todo esto no he sido yo,
sino el pueblo tratando de que no se violen los derechos humanos y abriendo
horizontes para la gente que viene buscando libertad en este país", manifestó
con humildad. EFE
HACIA UN DIÁLOGO SIN FRONTERAS
- Osvaldo Paya
Fri Apr 21 09:38:13 2006
HACIA UN DIÁLOGO SIN FRONTERAS -
MENSAJE A LA ORGANIZACIÓN DE NACIONES UNIDAS
 El
estado cubano ha apoyado con su voto la Resolución A60-L48 de la Organización de
Naciones Unidas que crea el Consejo de Derechos Humanos. Nos preguntamos ¿este
voto abre alguna expectativa sobre una nueva y mejor etapa en materia de
Derechos Humanos para la sociedad cubana? El pueblo cubano tiene el
derecho, el anhelo y la necesidad de que esta pregunta tenga una respuesta
positiva, que se traduzca en la práctica y en las leyes.
>>>Oprima aqui para continuar articulo>>>
Posted on Thu, Jan. 26, 2006
Los alimentos del honor
ANDRES REYNALDO
La reciente huelga de hambre de
Ramón Saúl Sánchez, el líder del Movimiento Democracia, destaca por una exótica
característica en el panorama de la oposición anticastrista del exilio. A saber,
que fue un gesto de entrañable dignidad, impecable coherencia y enorme riesgo
personal. Si bien recuerdo es el primer protagonista de una huelga de hambre en
Miami que, como dicta la naturaleza, sufre una visible pérdida de peso.
Más aún. A pesar de haber obtenido el compromiso de la Casa Blanca para
discutir las disposiciones inmigratorias, Sánchez se ha esforzado en no cantar
victoria. En esa discreción ante el capital político, brilla su capital humano.
En rigor, su gesto devuelve la frescura a un debate contaminado de intereses,
malentendidos y dolor. Mucho dolor. Nos habíamos acostumbrado a ver las
repatriaciones de los balseros con los ojos de nuestra comodidad. A fin de
cuentas, ¿qué podíamos hacer? La respuesta de Sánchez ha sido tan simple como
contundente: poner nuestra vida de por medio.
Como todos sabemos, el problema inmigratorio cubano tiene matices políticos,
económicos, históricos y morales. En cierta forma, es una tumultuosa
condensación del diferendo entre Cuba y Estados Unidos. Con legiones de víctimas
para ilustrarlo. Las posiciones son móviles y contradictorias. De buena fe,
algunos exiliados piensan que el cierre a cal y canto de la inmigración tendría
nefastas consecuencias para el castrismo. Los gobernantes de la isla, en cambio,
toman la excepcionalidad de nuestro caso como una formidable coartada para el
gastado discurso antinorteamericano. Ambas partes son rehenes de su inmovilidad.
Y los americanos observan, reticentes, sin comprender del todo la situación a
uno y otro lado del Estrecho de la Florida.
La época pide a gritos un cambio de guardia entre los líderes exiliados. Por
lo menos, un cambio de mentalidad. Una continuidad histórica en la política
anticastrista es quimérica, puesto que la dirigencia tradicional carece de las
luces y la voluntad para mantener una relación dinámica con el pueblo de la isla
y el exilio, salvo excepciones. De hecho, su conocimiento de la realidad interna
del país es maniquea, trivial y a veces brutalmente desfasada. Es verdad que
hemos logrado influir la estrategia hacia La Habana en el seno de algunas
administraciones, pero en la dirección incorrecta. Somos una máquina de producir
errores.
En este sentido, Sánchez ha empujado nuestro quehacer político a la calle.
Sin demagogia. Sin persona interpuesta. Sin corruptelas. Y, sobre todo, al
margen del juego electoral norteamericano. Me temo que a mucha gente del patio
no le conviene que este espíritu prime por demasiado tiempo. Ni que en la Casa
Blanca perciban que en Miami está cambiando la señal. Detrás de la batalla para
hacer justicia a los balseros que fueron repatriados a pesar de haber tocado
tierra firme, ha asomado una nueva fuerza. Acaso se diluya. Acaso se haga fuerte.
Es menester que esta iniciativa no sea secuestrada por los actores habituales
de nuestra relación con Washington. Porque aquí hay otras voces, con otras cosas
que decir. Esta huelga de hambre purificó, por así decirlo, nuestro precario
espacio político. En su autenticidad y su vigor, sacudió un estado de cosas
regido por el conformismo, cuando no el desaliento. Aunque todavía joven,
Sánchez es un veterano y sensato luchador. Sus acciones, eficaces o estériles,
han calado por su honestidad y su temple. Ahora ha escrito una hermosa página de
nuestro exilio. Esperemos que no se la lleve el viento.
|
Trabaja Activamente El Movimiento
Democracia En Plan De Contingencia Para Encarar Los Acontecimientos Que
Se Avecinan Relacionados A La Liberacion de Cuba - Unete Cubano; Hermano
De Otras Nacionalidades
Unete escribiendo o llamando
a:
E-mail:
movdemocracia@democracia.org
Tetelefono 305-264-7200
Fax: 305-445-1527
Con el proposito de responder activa
y responsablemente a cualquier desenlace que pudiera ocurrir a la defuncion de
Fidel Castro y posteriormente, el Movimiento Democracia ha discurrido un Plan de
Contingencia (Plan Democracia) para poder responder adecuadamente a cualquier
desenlace que pudiera ocurrir en el escenario cubano una vez que se anuncie la
defuncion de Fidel Castro. El Plan Democracia esta conformado por facetas.
Una de esas facetas comprende al Exilio cubano y como accionar ante cualquier
desenlace en Cuba que tambien repercutira en el destierro.
La primera faceta dispone que el
anuncio de la defuncion de Fidel Castro, se acuda de inmediato a una
multitudinaria Marcha Por Los Derechos Civiles del Pueblo Cubano, la cual tendra
su principal escenario a lo largo de la Calle 8 del SW, en la ciudad de Miami.
El Movimiento Democracia ya ha obtenido un compromiso con las autoridades
policiacas de la Ciudad de MIami, el condado Miami-Dade, la Ciudad de Hialeah y
la Ciudad de Sweetwater para realizar dicha marcha con la cooperacion de las
autoridades en acatamiento de la Primera Enmienda de la Constitucion de los
Estados Unidos que garantiza el derecho a la libre manifestacion de las ideas.
Los propositos de la Marcha de
Derechos Civiles Para el Pueblo Cubano son los siguientes:
-
Reclamar Democracia para los
cubanos. Cambiar de tirano no es ser libre.
-
Apoyar a la oposicion civica
cubana en la Isla en su justa lucha por la libertad de pueblo de Cuba
-
Reclamar la liberacion de todos
los prisioneros politicos cubanos
-
Reclamar que se detenga la
politica de la division familiar la cual ha causado que cada familia cubana
se encuentren divididas por este regimen.
-
Reclamar del gobierno de Estados
Unidos que no impida la activa participacion del destierro cubano en la
lucha no-violenta hacia Cuba y en auxiliar masivamente al pueblo cubano con
ayuda humanitaria y otras logisticas en el momento en comience a desmontarse
el presente regimen en Cuba.
De manera que el mensaje de la
manifestacion sea coherente y se fundamente en los pricipios antes mencionados,
hemos discurrido una serie de lemas que sirva de modelo para las personas que
deseen hacer sus propios letreros y mantenerlos listos para cuando llegue el
momento de Marcha de Derechos Civiles.
Para ver los lemas que sugerimos
oprima este icono
LEMAS PARA GRAN MARCHA DE DERECHO
CIVILES
Cubanos
en el exilio afirmaron que EE.UU. quiere neutralizar intentos de ir a la
isla
Ramón Saúl Sánchez,
presidente del Movimiento Democracia, calificó en Miami de "injerencia"
la advertencia de Estados Unidos de impedir la partida de flotillas
desde el sur de Florida hacia Cuba y reclamó el "derecho a entrar en la
isla".
Agregó que es un intento de Estados Unidos de "neutralizar
al exilio cubano en su apoyo a la lucha cívica pacífica" en Cuba, afirmó
Saúl Sánchez, líder de una de las principales organizaciones del exilio
cubano en Miami.
Vamos a exigir al Gobierno estadounidense que "no impida"
zarpar a la flotilla "ya dispuesta" (unas 15 embarcaciones y 10 aviones)
del Movimiento Democracia hacia Cuba, en el caso de que "podamos hacerlo",
señaló.
El portavoz de la Casa Blanca, Tony Snow, advirtió el
martes 1 de agosto en Washington del riesgo de cualquier intento de
provocar un éxodo masivo desde y hacia Cuba.
"Es importante en esta coyuntura decirle a la gente que
permanezca donde esté. Este no es el momento para que la gente intente
lanzarse a las aguas y viaje" desde o hacia Estados Unidos, agregó Snow.
El Gobierno de Estados Unidos ha llegado incluso a
considerar la posibilidad de un bloqueo naval con sus servicios de
guardacostas para impedir que flotillas de barcos traten de llegar a
Cuba desde el sur de Florida.
Al mismo tiempo se trataría de evitar un éxodo de cubanos
hacia el país norteamericano
A este respecto, Ramón Saúl Sánchez afirmó que lo
fundamental es que no se "restrinja" el derecho del exilio cubano a "entrar"
en las isla y "luchar junto a la disidencia interna". Desde el Gobierno
"intentan atarnos las manos", subrayó.
En ese sentido, dejó claro que interpelará al Gobierno
sobre una
cláusula secreta del plan aprobado por el presidente de
Estados Unidos, George W. Bush, que busca impulsar un proceso de
transición hacia la democracia en Cuba.
A juicio de Saúl Sánchez, dicha cláusula permitiría la "detención
temporal" de dirigentes de grupos del exilio cubano que tuviesen el
propósito de "ir a Cuba".
Esta medida, opinó, es "claramente una posición de
injerencia de Estados Unidos" que neutraliza la posibilidad de "apoyar a
la disidencia interna". "No podemos quedarnos cruzados de brazos",
insistió.
En una rueda de prensa celebrada hoy en Miami, Saúl
Sánchez preconizó "el deber y el derecho" del exilio cubano a unirse a
la "oposición cívica pacífica" antes que pueda "ser aplastada".
Como cubano, precisó, tengo derecho a entrar y "estoy
dispuesto a ir a la cárcel o a la tumba". "Estados Unidos no puede
atarnos la manos" por más tiempo y "engañarnos con más promesas falsas",
subrayó.
"Hemos estado preparando los barcos -apuntó- y, a lo
mejor, en tres días sucede algo por lo que debamos salir".
Preguntado cuál sería su reacción en el caso de ser
detenido por las autoridades estadounidenses, respondió que no dudaría
entonces en comenzar "una huelga de hambre para luchar" por Cuba.
Además lamentó que el Gobierno de Estados Unidos haya "reactivado"
el decreto presidencial 6867, que "selectivamente" se ha aplicado sólo
"contra la flotilla del Movimiento Democracia".
En ese sentido, anunció que pedirá al presidente Bush que
"aclare si van a respetar el derecho" de la flotilla de la organización
a "entrar en Cuba" y "unirse" a la disidencia interna. (EFE)
AFTER CASTRO DIES, WILL THERE BE CHAOS OR CALM?
Unsure of what to plan for, officials hope for a measured response
but fear a mass migration out of and into Cuba.
By Scott Gold, Times Staff Writer, LA Times
February 11, 2007
MIAMI — Ramon Saul Sanchez has put out the call: "Get ready. We're
going to Cuba."
Sanchez, 52, the founder of a Miami group called the Democracy
Movement, or Movimiento Democracia, has led flotillas toward
Cuba's territorial water to protest the regime of Fidel Castro and
what he believes is deeply flawed U.S. policy toward the island
nation.
When Castro dies, he said, he plans to sail for the island with
generators, medicine and other supplies — and bring word that
"freedom is on its way."
Military leaders, law enforcement officials and aid organizations
preparing for the Cuban leader's death are hoping for a calm and
measured response on both sides of the Florida Straits.
They are well aware, however, that Castro's death could lead to a
turbulent series of events — even an international incident, they
fear, if Sanchez and other Cuban American leaders in South Florida
sail for the island in large numbers.
Knowing the passion that Castro evokes — passion that could
overwhelm even the best planning — officials are unsure whether they
should be preparing for chaos or calm, or something in between.
"We've been waiting a long time for this. Realistically, anything
can happen," said Andy S. Gomez, an assistant provost at the
University of Miami and a senior fellow at the Institute for Cuban
and Cuban-American Studies. Gomez has briefed federal officials on
the spectrum of events that could unfold after Castro's death.
It has been six months since Castro, 80, underwent emergency
intestinal surgery and provisionally ceded power to Raul Castro, 75,
his brother and defense minister. Recent footage released by the
Cuban government appeared to show that Fidel Castro had regained
strength and weight. But reports that he is in "grave" condition,
coupled with U.S. intelligence officials' grim appraisals of his
health, have prompted authorities to put preparations in overdrive.
Officials in South Florida believe a composed response to Castro's
death is most likely.
In that scenario, Raul Castro would seamlessly maintain control
through a blend of modest economic reform and political tactics. On
the island, he would be seen as the face of a brighter future,
giving Cubans little reason to flee. In Florida, Cuban Americans
would demonstrate and celebrate — the largest event would probably
be held at the 80,000-person-capacity Orange Bowl — but would
generally heed calls for restraint.
But upheaval is possible. In what officials perceive as the worst
case, the Cuban government would collapse, prompting a dangerous
mass migration out of and into Cuba. Cubans fleeing the island and
Cuban Americans trying to get in from Florida could meet in the
middle of the Straits, creating a crisis that could overwhelm
rescuers and further erode the stability of Latin America.
"You want to plan. You don't want to have to put the plans in
motion," said Sam Tidwell, chief executive of the American Red Cross
of Greater Miami & the Keys and a leader in the effort to prepare
for Castro's death.
Law enforcement officials are holding tabletop exercises of
emergency plans and laying the groundwork to restrict the sale of
gasoline in Florida or to close marinas so Cuban Americans can't
make a run for the island. On Spanish-language radio stations,
authorities are pleading with Cuban Americans to stay home.
Military officials believe that if American activists try to get to
Cuba, they will disrupt the official response to Castro's death and
perhaps put more strain on relations between Cuba and the United
States.
If even a single Cuban American group tried to make its way to the
island, "it would be a very serious risk," said Marielena A.
Villamil, a member of the American Red Cross board of directors and
an owner of an economic consulting firm in Coral Gables, Fla.
"We don't know what the situation will be in Cuba," said Villamil,
who is also involved in preparations for Castro's death. "Would they
be welcomed with open arms? Or with arms — weapons?"
A network of aid groups, meanwhile, is preparing to help reunite
families, coordinate donations and care for refugees in the event of
an exodus from Cuba to the United States.
Delicate tasks could lie ahead in Florida.
For instance, some officials have debated whether Castro's death
could force them to alter the "wet-foot, dry-foot" immigration
policy, which typically repatriates Cubans interdicted at sea but
generally allows those who reach U.S. soil to stay.
If the policy were altered, the federal government could find itself
detaining refugees who made it to the United States, Tidwell said.
At that point, the Red Cross, founded as a neutral caregiver, would
be prohibited by its bylaws from providing any assistance, he said.
"We can be helpful in places where people are being processed but
not where people are being detained," Tidwell said. "If there are
political decisions being made — if people are no longer free to go
— we pull out."
The bulk of preparations in the U.S. for Castro's death aims to
ensure that is not an issue — by preventing any mass migration.
Authorities are planning extensive water patrols to stop boaters
trying to reach the United States. Most refugees would be returned
to Cuba, either to a port or to Guantanamo Bay, a U.S. naval base,
where military officials would house them in large tents or other
temporary structures until they could return home.
Communication, coordination between government agencies, and
intelligence inside Cuba, among other factors, are much improved
since officials were caught off-guard by the Mariel boatlift of
1980, which brought an estimated 125,000 Cubans to Florida.
"We've learned quite a bit," said Miami-Dade County Assistant Fire
Chief Carlos J. Castillo. "I don't see anything approaching Mariel."
Authorities believe Raul Castro would probably view a large exodus
after his brother's death as a discrediting sign of dissent within
his regime, and would probably deploy the military to prohibit it.
They also believe that the response to Castro's death could be muted
because the transition between the brothers has brought little sign
of unrest.
Through intelligence sources, U.S. officials are monitoring signs of
boat building in Cuba and have found no evidence of an increase,
said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil.
"The passing of Fidel Castro, in and of itself, is not going to
create a mass migration," he said.
Others disagree. Some involved in the preparations worry that there
won't be enough boats to police the Florida Straits. Others question
whether Raul Castro has the clout or the charisma to hold Cuba
together.
Gomez, of the University of Miami, predicts that 500,000 people will
head for Florida within a year of Castro's death.
"We do not have the infrastructure to handle that kind of
migration," he said. "You will see a large humanitarian crisis."
Over lunch in Miami's Little Havana, Ramon Saul Sanchez outlined his
group's plans. A businessman has donated the use of 400 feet of dock
space on the Miami River, he said, from which Sanchez plans to
launch boats toward Cuba, including a ferry that can carry 50
passengers to the island, as well as 20 tons of cargo.
He has two cargo planes on call and is amassing supplies at a large
storage space, he said.
Sanchez believes Cuba's government may collapse after Castro dies.
With the communist government in control of so many functions, such
as food distribution, that could mean a collapse of civic structure,
Sanchez said.
Therefore, he said, the only way to avoid a migration from Cuba is
to go to the island immediately after Castro's death, against the
wishes of both nations' militaries and government leaders, with
supplies and a message of hope.
"What we intend to do helps the U.S. interest, because it diminishes
the chance of a mass exodus to the United States," he said.
"We have moral leverage, and we intend to use it."
scott.gold@latimes.com
After Castro dies, will there be chaos or calm?
Unsure of what to plan for, officials hope for a measured response
but fear a mass migration out of and into Cuba.
By Scott Gold, Times Staff Writer
February 11, 2007
MIAMI — Ramon Saul Sanchez has put out the call: "Get ready. We're
going to Cuba."
Sanchez, 52, the founder of a Miami group called the Democracy
Movement, or Movimiento Democracia, has led flotillas toward
Cuba's territorial water to protest the regime of Fidel Castro and
what he believes is deeply flawed U.S. policy toward the island
nation.
When Castro dies, he said, he plans to sail for the island with
generators, medicine and other supplies — and bring word that
"freedom is on its way."
Cuban activist's quiet revolt resonates with exiles
By
John Lantigua
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 06, 2006
MIAMI — It is before dawn and Cuban exile activist Ramon Saul
Sanchez leads a caravan of cars through the quiet, already
steamy streets of Little Havana.
Thirty years ago, when Sanchez was an armed guerrilla
skulking along the coast of Cuba, he might have been on his way
to deliver guns for rebels fighting Fidel Castro's communism.
But on this morning, just days after Castro has relinquished
power for the first time in 47 years, Sanchez is on a very
different mission. It mirrors the profound change not only in
his own political strategies over the years but also in the
tactics of all major anti-Castro organizations based in Florida.
"The armed struggle is not a real option," says Sanchez, 51,
dressed in a crisp white shirt and a tie, not the military
fatigues of old. "The main factor against Castro today is
nonviolent opposition inside the island. We need to help them
any way we can, and we need to project their cause so that we
win support around the world at this very important moment."
To that end, the soft-spoken Sanchez is guiding a group of
journalists from Germany, Spain and the United States to a
multitiered mansion in a gated community in Coral Gables.
Floating in a canal behind the house is a 35-foot sportfishing
boat belonging to his organization, the Democracia Movement.
The boat's name, Derechos Humanos — Human Rights — is
stenciled on the bow. As the sun rises, he stands before it and
gives interview after interview, expertly in Spanish and
English, about dissidents on the island and how they must be
allowed to share power in Cuba.
The boat is Sanchez's symbol of authority and authenticity
within the Cuban exile population.
Since 1995, he has launched and ridden it more than a dozen
times on flotillas toward Cuban territorial waters, acts of
nonviolent political protest. One such demonstration included 41
boats and more than 500 people.
Those voyages have drawn the ire of not only Cuban
authorities but also the U.S. government, which is anxious to
avoid international incidents that might provoke Castro to expel
masses of disaffected Cubans to U.S. shores. Given his history
of conflicts with U.S. authorities, Sanchez is the
anti-communist leader most likely to take matters into his own
hands if there is political unrest in Cuba in coming days.
"The Bush administration has made statements that make us
believe they may try to stop us from helping our people on the
island if the occasion arises," he says. "I hope that is not
true. Because if it is, there could be trouble."
Sanchez would retaliate not with violence but with acts of
nonviolent civil disobedience — sit-ins and traffic blockages —
that have tied Miami in knots in the past and have become his
trademark.
Prison time changed philosophy
From bloody beginnings to these nonviolent practices,
Sanchez's political history symbolizes the story of Cuban exile
opposition to Castro during the past 20 years.
Just 10 years old when he emigrated from Cuba, Sanchez
already radically opposed the Castro regime because a man in his
home province of Matanzas was executed for collaborating with
anti-Castro rebels.
"He was a young man, and it scared me and also showed me just
how ruthless the Castro regime could be," he says.
At age 15, Sanchez joined Alpha 66, the Miami-based
anti-communist guerrilla organization that sent saboteurs and
arms to the island. He was dispatched on some 10 clandestine
operations in Cuba.
In 1982, Sanchez was imprisoned for criminal contempt when he
refused to testify before a federal grand jury in New York
investigating an attempt to assassinate Castro at the United
Nations. He served 4 1/2 years in federal prisons in New York
and Missouri, once staging a 26-day hunger strike, losing 70
pounds and being force-fed for the next 109 days.
When he entered prison, his image was of the anti-Castro
fighter from central casting: violent and irrepressible.
"But that time in prison gave me a lot of time to think," he
says. He is speaking now in his group's narrow Little Havana
office, which shares a ragged mini-mall with Cuban and
Nicaraguan restaurants and a laundromat.
The walls are plastered with a large Cuban flag, photos of
legendary Cuban patriots and current political prisoners, as
well as portraits of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi,
whose nonviolent tactics he studied in prison.
"I knew our cause was right, but the world didn't support
us," Sanchez says. "I also knew that Cubans had always changed
governments by toppling them with violence. That's what Castro
did. Castro is really a result of a failure of our own national
character.
"I figured that the only way to stop that was to change this
regime in a way that would create civic character," he says.
"The means have to be as dignified as the ends we seek. The most
dignifying means is nonviolence."
He was released from prison in 1987 and became just one more
of the myriad anti-Castro activists in Miami. Then on July 13,
1994, a group of would-be refugees in Havana hijacked a tugboat
and tried to escape. Government boats sank the tugboat 7 miles
outside Havana Harbor, and 41 people drowned, including 10
children.
On the first anniversary of that tragedy, Sanchez launched a
flotilla of 13 sporting boats from Key West to the edge of Cuban
territorial waters to commemorate their deaths by dropping
flowers in the sea.
That was the nonviolent plan, but Sanchez departed from the
script. The boat he commanded — the 39-foot Democracia —
crossed into Cuban territorial waters within sight of Cuban
patrol boats. After a cat-and-mouse chase on the open sea, his
fiberglass boat was first sandwiched and then rammed by two much
larger Cuban military patrol boats until it retreated back into
international waters.
The incident was captured by print and television
journalists, both on board his boats and in small planes above.
Miami Cubans had never witnessed any kind of confrontation
between exiles and Castro's military, and it excited them.
Sanchez has stayed in the limelight ever since. He admits
that propaganda is an enormous part of his task, thus the
endless interviews. "We need constantly to bring attention to
what is happening in Cuba," he says. "We can't let people forget
what people are suffering on that island under Castro's
communism."
Moving past emotion of Elian saga
Over the years, many other exile groups have embraced both
the message for nonviolent change in Cuba and Sanchez's loyalty
to the dissidents there.
But Sanchez and the entire Cuban exile cause have tested the
patience of the U.S. public at times.
Elian Gonzalez was a 6-year-old boy who was rescued at sea
just off Fort Lauderdale after his rafter mother drowned,
touching off a rancorous international child custody battle.
Sanchez stood prominently at the side of the boy's Cuban
relatives in Miami who wanted to keep him, but the Clinton
administration returned Elian to his father in Cuba.
Most Americans opposed the exile position and were appalled
at the angry, sometimes violent protests they watched on
television, which included the burning of U.S. flags. Sanchez,
who opposed the flag burnings, prefers not to talk about the
Elian saga now.
"People didn't understand our position then so I doubt they
will understand it any better now," he says. "I just say, 'Until
you have walked in our shoes, the shoes of forced exile, you
won't understand our feelings.' "
Now he and all of the exile groups have arrived at an even
more emotional juncture: the possible eclipse of the Castro era.
Over the years, Sanchez, like many Cuban-Americans, has
developed a bitter distrust of U.S. motives when it comes to
Cuba.
"If U.S. administrations really wanted Cuba to be free, it
would be free by now," he says. "They have cut deals, like the
one between Kennedy and Khrushchev in the 1960s, that have
protected American interests and cost Cubans their freedom. We
don't want a solution to the Cuba situation that is packaged in
Washington."
But he wants the U.S. government to allow him and other
exiles to travel to Cuba, if necessary, to help the nonviolent
political opposition there.
"Fidel Castro is not afraid of Yankee bombs," Sanchez says.
"What really scares him is a Cuban dissident in the street
yelling, 'Freedom! Freedom!'
|
| |
Castro's Legacy:
A
Revolution or a tyranny?
-
Over 30,000
Political Executions
-
Over 250,000
political prisoners in 46 years
-
Over 20% of Cuba's
population living in exile
-
Over 10,000
entered the Peruvian Embassy in one day
-
Over 125,000 left
by sea in one month
-
Hundreds of
thousands rafters have lost or risked their lives to escape from Cuba.
-
Same person ruling
the country for over 48 years without democratic elections.
-
The largest
foreign debt in the history of the country.
Then, isn't it time for a change?
|
