Activists in Sancti Spíritus Beaten After Carrying-Out a Public March

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Activists in Sancti Spíritus Beaten After Carrying-Out a Public March
By Cuban Democratic Directorate

Sancti Spíritus. February 24, 2008. Directorio Democrático Cubano. In the center of Cuba, in the town of Tuinucú, in the municipality of Taguasco, Sancti Spíritus, seven activists of the Pedro Luis Boitel Political Prisoners Movement were brutally beaten and arrested after carrying-out a public march commemorating the Grito de Baire, and the 12^th anniversary of the shoot-down of the Brothers To The Rescue planes. The activists, led by opposition leader and former political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez”, walked through the streets of this town with a Cuban flag, shouting the phrases: “Freedom for all political prisoners!, No to the electoral farce!, and Long live the non-cooperation campaign!, and spoke to the citizens of the town reminding them to not cooperate with the Castro regime. At one point during the march, they were interrupted by agents of the political police.

The activists present were: Ángel Enrique Hernández Rivero, Adriano Castañeda Meneses, George Perdigón Brito, Ana Margarita Perdigón Brito, Bienvenido Perdigón Pacheco, Iris Pérez Aguilera, and Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez”.

According to Antúnez and activist Ana Margarita Perdigón Brito, all the participants including women were savagely beaten. Bienvenido Perdigón Pacheco, a 68 year-old man was also beaten, to the point that he almost suffered a heart attack. Both activists informed the Cuban Democratic Directorate that the agents also tried to rip the Cuban flag, dragging it along the floor. After, they were split up and taken to National Revolutionary Police Units in Sancti Spíritus.

“We begged the policemen to remove my father’s handcuffs; he was sweating profusely and short of breath. They told us that they wouldn’t remove them and they wouldn’t give him medical attention either. One of the policemen in the car slapped my brother because he kept begging them to remove our father’s handcuffs. The driver then pulled over and violently shook me, telling me that he wouldn’t remove them and that if he died, then so be it,” expressed Ana Margarita Perdigón Brito via Radio República.

Upon arriving at the National Revolutionary Police Unit in the municipality of Taguasco, the officials then removed the activists from the car violently, beating Perdigón Pacheco and injuring his hand, which bled significantly.

According to information from Ana Margarita Perdigón Brito, her brother George was savagely beaten on the forehead when taken to the jail cell. When she tried to help her brother, she was attacked by the officials, who grabbed her by the neck and held her down using judo locks causing her to faint.

The activists were held at the National Revolutionary Police Unit until 8:00 p.m., when they were taken to their homes by State Security agents.

“That is the change that Raúl Castro’s regime keeps talking about. That is the change that perhaps some gullible people who visit our country and play the dictatorship’s game have been fooled to believe in. That is the change they speak of: the beatings; the beatings to innocent men and women. Don’t think that with these beatings and arrests, this government will carry-out any changes. On the 24^th, while Raúl Castro prepared his assembly and his electoral farce, we, the opposition, were in another province and will continue expanding our civil resistance acts,” affirmed Antúnez from Placetas, Villa Clara.

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