Political Prisoners Honored with Pedro Luis Boitel Freedom Award

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Political Prisoners Honored with Pedro Luis Boitel Freedom Award
By Cuban Democratic Directorate

Miguel Tomás López, from El Salvador’s ARENA Party presents the Pedro Luis Boitel Freedom Award to Antúnez's niece, Damaris García Antúnez. (Cuban Democratic Directorate)

Miami. 17 October 2007. The Pedro Luis Boitel Freedom Award, granted by Latin American and European civil society organizations, was given to the Pedro Luis Boitel Political Prisoners Association during an event in support of Cuba’s civic resistance on Thursday, October 11 in Miami’s Tower Theater. The event, organized by pro-democracy Cuban exile organizations who support the “Yo No” Non-Cooperation with the Dictatorship Campaign, drew some 250 members of the Cuban community. Latin American political leaders Miguel Tomás López, from El Salvador’s ARENA Party, and Otto Guevara, a former Costa Rican presidential candidate and president of the Libertarian Movement Party delivered addresses in support of the internal opposition.

“Today I have received one of the two greatest joys in my life as an opposition activist. The first was when I was able to embrace my sister after 17 years in prison on April 22 of this year. The other was the honoring of the Pedro Luis Boitel Political Prisoners Association with the Pedro Luis Boitel Freedom Award,” stated Jorge Luis García Pérez Antúnez, the organization’s president, upon receiving the news in Cuba. His niece, Damaris García Antúnez, accepted the award in his name at the event in Miami.

The Pedro Luis Boitel Freedom Award has been granted since 2001 to recognize the opposition and human rights activists in Cuba. Previous honorees have included Juan Carlos González Leiva (2001); Angel Moya Acosta (2002); Roberto De Miranda Hernández (2003); Bertha Antúnez Pernet, (2004); the Ladies in White (2005); and the people of Madruga (2006). The award is given by human rights and civil society organizations from Eastern European countries, joined by Latin American organizations since 2003. The award was founded by Romanian intellectual and dissident Gabriel Andrescu.

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