Independent journalist marches from Santiago de Cuba to Havana demanding justice
By Marylín Díaz Fernández

CAMAGÜEY, December 28, 2007 - Ramón Velázquez Toranzo, an independent journalist from the Libertad Press Agency, began a walking pilgrimage in Eastern Cuba at the shrine of Our Lady of Charity, Cuba’s Patron Saint, on December 10th, International Human Rights Day. He hopes to reach Havana by foot. Velázquez Torranso is trekking with his wife, Barbara González Cruz, who is 46 years old, and his daughter, Rufina Velázquez González, an 18 year-old.

According to Velásquez Toranzo, the walking pilgrimage is in act of protest against the regime’s constant human rights violations and makes three demands: freedom for Cuban political prisoners, respect for human rights, and the cessation of repression against peaceful members of the opposition.

The total distance to be covered by the pilgrims is 950 kilometers. Eighteen days after beginning their journey, they had advanced over 250 km, but not without obstacles. Velázquez Toranzo was arrested in the city of Holguin, and detained for 4 days. The journalist began a hunger strike as soon as he was detained. He had various belongings confiscated, including a radio and several copies of Martí in his own Words, a collection of Jose Marti quotes, and was then released. Something significant, he explained, was the confiscation of the book, History Will Absolve Me by Fidel Castro. “It is ridiculous that the dictatorship considers the book History Will Absolve Me subversive material,” commented Velázquez Toranzo.

On two occasions, while walking in Holguin, two cars on the street almost ran the marchers over. They are walking peacefully, and hold State Security responsible for any violence committed against them. “We are not chanting or holding any signs,” said the journalist.

Send by E-mail | Printable Version

Directorio Democrático Cubano
P.O. Box 110235
Hialeah, Florida 33011
Tel. 305-220-2713
info@directorio.org

In Memory of Mario Manuel de la Peña