Cuban Special Forces Storm Student Leader’s Home

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Cuban Special Forces Storm Student Leader’s Home
By Cuban Democratic Directorate

Former political prisoner and Cuban student leader Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina, president of the Cuban Youth Movement for Democracy.

Baracoa, Guantánamo. July 10, 2008. Cuban Democratic Directorate. At about 7 AM on Thursday, July 10, troops from the Castro regime’s Special Forces stormed the home of the father of student pro-democracy movement leaders Néstor and Rolando Rodríguez Lobaina. This same morning, other activists in solidarity with Néstor were arrested elsewhere in Baracoa and in the city of Guantánamo, amounting to a total of fourteen detained human rights activists. The house has been under siege from paramilitary mobs led by State Security forces since Tuesday, July 8, at 7 PM. Former Cuban political prisoner and student leader Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina continues on hunger strike for a fourth day at this house, where he is demanding respect to travel freely in his own country.

According to activist and former political prisoner Julián Antonio Monés Borrero, the activists detained at Calle Martí #434, Apartment F, and in separate operations this morning were:

Omar Wilson Estévez Real (from Moa, Holguín)

Augusto Hernández de los Ángeles (from Moa, Holguín)

Felipe del Rosario Aguirre (from Moa, Holguín)

Sorlenin Abad Alfajón (from Moa, Holguin)

Yordis García Fournier (from Guantánamo)

Yonal Eduardo Duvalón Guivert Ortiz (from Santiago de Cuba)

Yorledis Duvalón Guivert Ortiz (from Santiago de Cuba)

Juan Carlos Hernández Hernández (from Santiago de Cuba)

Rolando Tudela Iribar (from Guantánamo)

Jorge Corrales Ceballos (from Guantánamo)

Isael Poveda Silva (from Guantánamo)

Enyor Díaz Allen (from Guantánamo)

Keyber Rodríguez Fernández (from Baracoa)

Roberto González Pelegrín (from Baracoa)

“We awoke once again to a terrorist attack. We call the attention of all the media, so that the world will know about all the abuses happening here. The Cuban government is responsible for the incidents that may happen and for their consequences,” stated Rolando Rodríguez Lobaina, director of the Center for Alternative Studies of the Cuban Youth Movement for Democracy.

“They have brought two busloads of special forces commandos as if we were criminals… They stormed Nestor Rodríguez Lobaina’s home with military forces. Patrol car number 762 and the special forces troops have surrounded the building,” stated Monés Barrero by telephone to the Cuban Democratic Directrorate.

The State Security operations against the Rodríguez Lobaina brothers and their cause, have also targeted the numerous activists showing their solidarity, and gone so far as to victimize their own mother.

“They searched the home of Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina’s mother at 6 AM. She is a 76 year-old lady, she is sick with heart disease and thyroid problems, and that is unjust. It is illegal,” stated Monés Barrero.

Nevertheless, the neighborhood's residents have categorically refused to cooperate with State Security in these violent operations against their neighbors.

"All our neighbors are locked in their homes. They have not participated. They have brought these people from I-don't-know-where. I am convinced that this attack is not targeted against us. They know that they do not intimidate us. The regime wants to instill fear among the populace who stand more and more in solidarity with our cause," stated Rolando during a Radio República broadcast the day before the arrests.

Activists Keyber Rodríguez Fernández and Roberto González Pelegrín were released after several hours during which time they were threatened and harassed by State Security officials.

On July 7, Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina declared himself on hunger strike indefinitely to demand respect for his right to move about freely within his own country. Rodríguez Lobaina is the president of the Cuban Youth Movement for Democracy, an organization of students and young professionals that advocates for academic freedom and university autonomy. This sustained act of repudiation marks a significant escalation in the repressive measures deployed against him. The activist was detained last week and sent to internal exile against his will as part of a crackdown against activists in Havana. He was again arrested on July 6 on his way to Havana, where he has lived for three years with his wife.

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