Opposition Activists Demonstrate in Cuba at the Tomb of Student Martyr Pedro Luis Boitel

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Opposition Activists Demonstrate in Cuba at the Tomb of Student Martyr Pedro Luis Boitel
By Cuban Democratic Directorate

Miami. 16 May 2008. Information and Support Center. Thirteeen peaceful activists and members of various human rights organizations in Cuba paid tribute to Cuban student martyr Pedro Luis Boitel on Friday during the Pedro Luis Boitel Activism Memorial, a call to action from the “Pedro Luis Boitel” Political Prisoners Movement inside the island.

The event consisted of a pilgrimage to the tomb of Pedro Luis Boitel, located at Havana’s Colón Cemetery in Havana. Among the leaders of the opposition movement present at the activity were Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina, President of the Cuban Youth Movement for Democracy, independent journalist Guillermo Fariñas, and former political prisoner and activist Francisco Chaviano González, who spoke on the life of Pedro Luis Boitel.

According to a statement to the Information and Support Center from human rights activist and former political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez (Antúnez): “the conditions of neglect in which this martyr’s tomb is found are extreme, and we reaffirm our commitment to demand freedom for Cuba and to rescue this sacred place for all Cubans,” stated the activist, who also participated in the event.

The activists carried out this act of civic resistance in spite of a state-organized secret police operation, during which State Security agents harassed various opposition leaders who were headed to the event, among them activists Julio César López and Emilio Leiva, from the “Frank Pais” 30th of November Democratic Party.

“In spite of the conditions, we kept our composure, kept our temper, and were able to reach our goal: to pay tribute to Pedro Luis Boitel,” stated Antúnez to the Information and Support Center via telephone from Havana.

The event marked the first time since Boitel’s death in May of 1972 that the notes of the Cuban national anthem were sung before his nameless tomb, which contains a truth that the regime can no longer bury.

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