Updates on Repression Relating to Pope Benedict’s Visit from Pieces of the Island / Translating Cuba

Updates on Repression Relating to Pope Benedict's Visit from Pieces of
the Island / Translating Cuba
Translating Cuba, Translator: Raul G.

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

http://translatingcuba.com/?p=16982