From The Prisons of Cuba-A Cry for Help!
The following document, here published in English for the first time, comes from a group of 47 prisoners being held in the political prison, La Cabana, in Cuba. The document is dated December...
...Roberto Cosculluela Valvarcel, 556-61, 20 years, Havana...
...We should mention the case of Carmelo Cuadra, the third political prisoner to die during a hunger strike...
...The only treatment they received was sleeping pills or electric shocks...
...The dentist was there only to perform extractions...
...Angel Calzado Mesa, 480-61, 20 years, Las Villas...
...Ricardo Fernandez Vichot, 24-67, 5 years, Havana...
...Mental Torture THE COMBINATION OF COLD, hunger, and filth, facilitated the spreading of diseases among us: tuberculosis, anemia, pneumonia, grippe, and fungi constantly afflicted us...
...210 COMMENTS AND OPINIONS Since these strikes, we still have not received any type of medical care...
...Members of the Mint-Int (Ministry of the Interior) go around our homes terrorizing and haunting our relatives...
...Because of the poor nutrition, cavities were numerous...
...They wounded several of the men...
...3, 1966...
...Justo Regalado Borges, 122-62, 30 years, Pinar del Rio...
...Food continues to be of the worst kind, without spices or dressings...
...It is a faithful copy of the original...
...To THE PRESIDENT OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE UNITED NATIONS: WE TAKE this unique opportunity, the only inr one we have had in all these years, to bring before you and denounce before the world the cruelty and crimes to which we political prisoners of Cuba have been subjected...
...Diosdado Aquit Manrique, Dec...
...Our group was attacked and many of our comrades wounded...
...On the Isle of Pines, a forsaken place of terror and barbarism, more than 7,000 of us lived, crowded in four compounds with a capacity of 870 men each...
...Our belongings are often damaged or destroyed...
...there we would stay for an indefinite time, sometimes eight or nine months...
...Please take this letter to its destination, copy and give it to the press...
...on another, an old man, Erasmo Gomez, was almost blinded from a blow across his eyes...
...They had been on the Isle of Pines for three years...
...Carlos Betancourt Rodriguez, 600-60, 20 years, Havana...
...16, 1966...
...Armando Yong Martinez, 21-62, 20 years, Havana...
...Alberto Mojena Ortega, 600-60, 12 years, Havana...
...Justo Guerra Remedio, 565-60, 30 years, Havana...
...Human Experiments AT PRESENT, the situation remains unchanged...
...Jose R. Varona Primelles, 127-61, 10 years, Oriente...
...rarely did he take care of cavities...
...Rovaldo Calero Sosa, 43765, 9 years, Havana...
...Rene Ramos Ganzalez, mayo 63, 20 years, Pinar del Rio...
...Again they put us to the test...
...What few possessions we had, they threw out...
...Roberto A. Ramos Alfonso, 439-60, 12 years, Havana...
...In one case, the men of a certain cell block found when they came to the dining hall that their meal was just some bean water...
...They jammed 350 of us in each cell block...
...Tomas Gonzalez Camejo, 56860, 20 years, Havana...
...At muster time, they usually made us run so they could mock and demoralize us...
...21, 1964...
...Luis Hernandez Garcia, 192-61, 10 years, Pinar del Rio...
...Dany Crespo, Dec...
...Hipolito L. Diaz Montero, 17-64, 9 years, Havana...
...Benito Hernandez Gonzalez, 354-64, 6 years, Havana...
...They prescribed only aspirin and simple medications made at the hospital...
...SIGNED, stating the number of the cause [in the Cuban legal code] for which they were condemned and the number of years of sentence: Jose Piloto Mora, 99-61, 30 years, Pinar del Rio...
...For eight months he suffered the abuses and tortures of the red assassins, and in April, 1969 he died suffering severe hepatic pains...
...They have been stripped, thrown in with the ordinary prisoners, beaten and wounded...
...PLEASE receive our highest esteem for you and for the distinguished members of the Commission...
...Pedro Sierra Vega, 981-61, 15 years, Matanzas...
...But these worthy Cuban women have been able to rise above these tortures and vexations and have upheld the tradition of courage and strength of the Cuban woman...
...We had nothing, not even a piece of paper to put under our backs...
...They are placed together with the ordinary prisoners, and as a result there have been murders and fights where political prisoners have been injured...
...Instead, we have been guinea pigs in the hands of the Ministry of the Interior and Public Health...
...During one strike, in September of 1967, Luis Alvarez Rios died...
...Those were hard moments: mothers on their knees begging their sons to dress, others dissolving into nervous collapse and we, with tears in our eyes, trying to make them understand our principles and the bribery to which they were being subjected...
...One morning they were called in to be transferred...
...21, 1964: Jose Alfonso Solarana, Sept...
...They wish, they say, to write a book...
...The Slots IN MARCH, 1968, a group of prisoners was taken from the jail of Boniato, Oriente, to the "Slots" of Tres Maceo and San Ram6n, prison farms for ordinary prisoners...
...Medical assistance was scarce and poor...
...There was no room to move...
...Later, we learned they had been taken to Santa Clara to be "tried...
...Some were taken to the Hospital Nacional de Reclusos del Principe (National Hospital for the Inmates of the Castillo del Principe) due to the seriousness of their wounds...
...The guards made frequent rounds during which they mistreated us physically and verbally...
...We were so crowded that we had to sleep in two-hour shifts, for all of us could not lie down at once...
...Servando Infante Jimenez, 86-65, 12 years, Havana...
...Food was scanty and of the poorest quality...
...Never has any group of men suffered so much...
...Beatings and Bayonet Jabs WE REMAINED in this situation until 1964, when the most cruel, brutal, and inhuman plan of forced labor known in the history of the Americas began...
...More Abuses and Vexations IN THE BEGINNING of 1967, the transfers to Cuba began...
...Enrique Garcia Cuevas, 829-60, 30 years, Las Villas...
...The "Corporals" came into the compounds with their machetes, hitting and wounding prisoners left and right...
...Barefoot, extremely thin, almost nude, we were brought before our families...
...They had to take care of their necessities right where they were seated...
...Jose 0. Rodriguez Terrero, 81-63, 20 years, Oriente...
...Medical assistance has not become any better, and in the infirmaries and hospitals they do not give us any kind of medicine, their entry to the prison being forbidden...
...There were some incidents in the dining hall...
...There, all were sentenced to death...
...This time they wanted to place us on the same level as the ordinary "rehabilitated" prisoners, trying to force us to wear their blue uniforms...
...Aurelio Vazquez Neceda, 60-61, 15 years, Matanzas...
...Orlando Almanza Sanchez, 10 years, Oriente...
...For the slightest reason we were taken to the punishment wards, small bare cells in which beatings and miserable conditions (water-covered floors, mosquitos, etc...
...Juan Rodriguez Esquia, 248-63, 30 years, Santa Clara...
...We were all anemic and starving...
...Herminio Gutierrez Martinez, 122-62, 15 years, Pinar del Rio...
...At "La Cabana" and other prisons, they used poisons to give us diarrhea, destroying us physically...
...Visits were once or twice a year, and only three relatives were allowed in for two hours...
...Laureano Pequeno Velo, 484-62, 20 years, Havana...
...The shooting was by machine guns, as they came off the truck— a true massacre...
...24, 1966...
...Hunger Strikes THOSE MISERABLE CONDITIONS led to two great hunger strikes, one in October, 1968, for 19 days and another last August and September, for 35 days...
...we never saw milk...
...that is four hours of visits a year...
...Murders BUT THAT was not all...
...ruled...
...A hunger and thirst strike began...
...They have been kept incommunicado for interminable periods...
...On July 29, 1967, they offered us the blue uniforms, which we refused to accept...
...Guillermo Rodriguez Alvarez, 187-61, 10 years, Pinar del Rio...
...Joaquin Lassus Martinez, 320-60, 10 years, Oriente...
...Doctors and students have studied us to measure the reactions of the human body after such a prolonged fast and the results of a convalescence without nutrients or medication...
...The document is dated December 1969...
...When they became painful, the solution was to extract...
...They, just as we, have undergone the same abuses...
...The purpose of this punishment was to make them wear the blue uniforms...
...The penal hospital saw only 40 to 50 men per month, and they never had the necessary medication...
...We were then transferred to cell blocks seven and eight without any belongings and dressed only in our underwear...
...Because of poor care and the cruel use of shock treatments, on February 14, 1968, Rafel Dominguez Socorro, totally insane, hanged himself...
...Food was so scanty that three spoonfuls emptied the plate...
...At the Hospital Nacional de Reclusos del Principe, operations for hemorrhoids, nose and throat problems, etc., are performed by recent surgery graduates with no experience...
...Prisoners who face surgery are forced to witness operations...
...Sometimes we returned as late as 10 or 11 at night...
...They would both hit and jab us, leaving wounds at times 20 to 25 cm...
...Arturo S. Canet Oulego, 320-60, 10 years, Oriente...
...Gregorio Ariosa Rubio, 462-64, 9 years, Havana...
...On one of such occasions, Mario Jimenez Figueredo lost an eye...
...The latter were administered haphazardly: four, five, ten, twelve shocks would be given until the patient was completely stupefied...
...Mario Pedraza Marti, 360-63, 20 years, Havana...
...Their condition was deplorable, and they were psychologically destroyed...
...When they realized that they could not subdue us with these abuses, the shootings began...
...It consisted of cooked corn-meal or bean broth, yams or bread...
...Manuel Mosquera Rodriguez, 460-61, 20 years, Las Villas...
...8, 1966...
...Many men refused to put on the blue uniforms and were placed into the punishment dungeons and cells of provincial jails...
...If and when this latter body considers this appeal, we shall be glad to report its action.—ED...
...They were taken by truck near the Escambray to be shot...
...Their love and long absence from us made them accept...
...9, 1966...
...12, 1966, in the punishment wards, Roberto Lopez Chavez died in acute pain as a result of a prolonged hunger strike...
...Jose E. Gomez Guerra, 1160-61, 15 years, Matanzas...
...It was submitted by the prisoners through the League for the Rights of Man and addressed to the Commission on Human Rights of the United Nations...
...At present, a great many prisoners are psychically destroyed...
...Angel Mendoza Mendoza, 1151-61, 10 years, Matanzas...
...At one afternoon muster we refused to do it, and more than 200 soldiers armed with bayonets and clubs entered the yard...
...Fernando Gomez Fonseca, 33-63, 12 years, Havana...
...On Nov...
...Today, there is not a single prisoner who has not lost part or all of his teeth...
...Luis Nieves Cruz, Sept...
...Our scarce correspondence is rigorously censored and any suspicious word is enough to suspend it...
...211...
...Another case we cannot forget is that of Wilfredo Martinez, 30...
...Because of all the diseases and the torture, many of the men were driven to insanity...
...Roberto Alonso Gonzalez, 617-60, 30 years, Havana...
...Treatment by the prison wardens is deplorable...
...The care there is so deficient that none of the men who have entered the hospital have been cured...
...Jerônimo Candine, Jan...
...On our arrival from the Isle of Pines, we were put into La Cabana, 250 men per cell block...
...One of the men in this group, Francisco Balbuena Calzadilla, died on August 14, 1968, when, during a spell of insanity, he jumped from the roof of "El Principe...
...The number of prisoners who fell ill or went insane prove the cruelty of our jailers...
...But medical attention was nil...
...Months passed, and when winter came they dispersed us among seven cell blocks, "So the cold will get to you and force you to dress...
...Mateo Rodriguez Rodriguez, 74063, 30 years, Havana...
...With the slightest excuse they impose an unacceptable, humiliating discipline that is contrary to our principles and rights...
...They refused to eat and were attacked by a group of soldiers armed with clubs and sticks...
...Jose Guerra Pascual, Sept...
...The number of men who have been crippled in the different prisons of Cuba is countless...
...Before seeing us, they were told they had to advise us to wear the blue uniforms...
...Dagoberto Acosta Chirino, 7163, 12 years, Pinar del Rio...
...On numerous occasions we saw them burn the bundles of letters our families would send us...
...The "slots" are in the middle of a prairie and consist of cells two feet wide, six feet long, and seven feet high, mud-walled with one small window to let in air...
...Many times the food was spoiled by the time we ate it...
...We ate our lunch in the field...
...Meat, eggs, fish were rare...
...Three prisoners would be put in each cell...
...We cannot overlook the selflessness and heroism of the women political prisoners...
...We are allowed only three books, and they must be edited by the government...
...21, 1964...
...Antonio Dominguez Hernandez, 31-62, 20 years, Havana...
...He was completely blinded as a result of wounds he received when taken prisoner and has remained in that condition for seven years in prison, suffering the cruelty of this harsh confinement...
...Mario C. Simon Suarez, 477-61, 20 years, Havana...
...Jose Carreno Perez, 10-64, 18 years, Havana...
...Feliciano Mohamed Esperon, 543-63, 12 years, Havana...
...There were times when totally naked men were forced to pull up grass with their mouths...
...Angel L. Arguelles Garrido, 97-63, 30 years, Havana...
...At that stage of our imprisonment, Eddy Molina died for lack of medical attention at La Cabaiia, and Alfredo Carrion Obeso expired in a labor camp...
...We carried our lunches to the fields and left them out under the hot sun until 12 or 12:30...
...deep...
...We left the compounds at five in the morning and usually returned at 6 or 6:30 P.M...
...Rolando Morejon Guirado, 50-62, 15 years, Oriente...
...Domingo Sanchez Costa, 460-61, 20 years, Las Villas...
...The latter was as inhuman an event as the world has ever seen...
...During the plan of forced labor, the following men, among other victims of such murders, died: Ernesto Diaz Madraga, Aug...
...Rigoberto Perez Roque, 356-63, 20 years, Havana...
...Another mass murder committed in prison was that of 21 of our comrades, members of the so-called Escambray Cause...
...Eddy Alvarez Molina, Dec...
...We were so weak that men would fall if they remained standing too long...
...This continued for almost two months when they were finally taken out...
...In the provincial jails the situation was the same or worse...
...Many hunger strikes broke out in the different jails 209 COMMENTS AND OPINIONS in Cuba to force the authorities to separate us from the ordinary prisoners...
...28, 1967...
...Maximo Cora Abraham, 115161, 10 years, Matanzas...
...We were admitted only to serve as guinea pigs for the recently graduated military doctors who were transferred out as soon as they had acquired some experience...
...Julio Tang Texier, Sept...
...The Vampires THE MARTYRS THAT have died and still die facing the firing squads are the victims of a most ironic policy...
...In this hospital, which is also a jail for ordinary prisoners, room number seven is for the mental patients...
...During the "Plan," the rounds were even worse...
...For any reason, they would begin to fire indiscriminately, increasing considerably the list of our martyrs...
...They are forced to give blood which the government donates "humanitarily" to Vietnam and Laos...
...When prisoners fainted, they would be given a shot and put back in the cells...
...Thus bribing our relatives, they tried to make us give in...
...In the field, the "Corporals" watched us 208 COMMENTS AND OPINIONS constantly and anything was considered reason enough for a beating—even leaving the line for a drink of water was cause for a beating...
...we were all beaten mercilessly...
...For over a year and a half we remained there, dressed only in our underwear, half naked, suffering from hunger and cold, incommunicado, lacking the bare essentials of human life...
...they took advantage of our condition, telling us that all we had to do to receive medical care was to wear the blue uniform...
...Roberto Iglesias Martin, 144-63, 8 years, Pinar del Rio...
...Political Prison, La Cabana, December 1969...
...9, 1964...
...They denied medical assistance to prisoners suffering from heart attacks, stomach upsets, diarrhea, and even total paralysis unless they changed their attitude...
...Our correspondence was limited to one letter per month and one telegram...
...It was horrible to see 800 men in a state of total malnutrition, thrown to the mercy of cruel, unpredictable jailers...
...Our families are orally abused during their visits...
...Francisco Nogales, Feb...
...Another method they used was to place ordinary prisoners in the same cells with us...
Vol. 17 • May 1970 • No. 3
