Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina to be Tried. His Brother Rolando Rodríguez Lobaina Detained and Threatened with Prison
By Cuban Democratic Directorate

Most significant trial of a pro-democracy leader in Cuba since the 2003 Black Spring crackdown

Néstor and Rolando Rodríguez Lobaina.

Guantánamo, Baracoa. March 21, 2011. Cuban Democratic Directorate. Preparations are underway for the arbitrary trial of Cuban resistance leader Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina, to be held this March 22 in the city of Baracoa in eastern Cuba. Nestor is the most prominent leader of the Resistance brought to trial since the case of the 75 in March of 2003. For years, Nestor has been the leading figure in the Cuban Youth for Democracy Movement , a group of Cuban pro-democracy students that in 2007 collected more than 5,000 signatures from students for university autonomy and academic freedom. Charged with disorderly conduct and disobedience, Nestor was arrested on December 9, 2011, on the eve of International Human Rights Day. He is considered a prisoner of conscience by human rights organization Amnesty International.

"I denounce the Cuban government for this manipulation and hold it responsible for what may happen with my brother ,now that Nestor announced a hunger strike in case of a ruling against him," protested Rolando Rodriguez Lobaina, adding that the trial and all the proceedings against his brother lack due process guarantees. 

Rolando himself was arrested on the night of March 16 as he, together with fellow activist Isael Poveda Silva, traveled to the city of Baracoa to attend the trial of his brother. On March 17 the home of his mother in the neighborhood of Joa, in the above mentioned city, was raided by the political police. 

"They turned my home upside down and treated me very badly. For them I was a dog. I did not let one of the witnesses enter my house because he himself is a notorious informant. They were searching, and I said, 'But sir, there is nothing here' always with my head held high. I told them they were tyrants, bullies, and that there was no freedom of expression, that they had my house under surveillance and that I do not fear them. I am Nestor's and Rolando’s mother and I am very proud of them and I continue to fight for them," stated Dinora Lobaina by telephone from Baracoa.

Rolando was taken to political police Operations headquarters in the city of Guantanamo, confined in a sealed cell and then interrogated by high-ranking military personnel. Military personnel threatened Rolando with being accused of alleged espionage. 

"I report my innocence of charges like being an alleged 'spy' or belonging to an espionage plot the official media recently made known, referring to a 'cyber war established by interests', the best known incident of which involved the arrest of U.S. citizen Alan Gross. I am innocent of any charge and I am under investigation, at the mercy of any decision that may be taken, in an investigation where the issue has still not been finalized, "said Rolando Rodriguez Lobaina by telephone to the Cuban Democratic Directorate. 

In a March 16, 2011 statement, Amnesty International recognizing that the main problem in Cuba are the laws that violate the fundamental rights of citizens, recalled that leading opposition activist Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina had recently been declared a prisoner of conscience as evidence that the repression in Cuba continues, despite recent releases of political prisoners. 

The Cuban Democratic Directorate raises its voice before the world to denounce the machinations of the Havana regime intended to silence the voices of two human rights defenders in Cuba: Néstor and Rolando Rodríguez Lobaina, arbitrarily trying the first, and threatening the second with an espionage charge. As long as the existing Penal Code in Cuba violates human rights, there will continue to be political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.

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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