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R 062130Z OCT 06
FM USINT HAVANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8109
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 020774 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2016 
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: REPRESSION IN CUBA WORSE UNDER RAUL, SAY ACTIVISTS 
 
 
HAVANA 00020774  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Many Cuban human rights activists believe 
that repression has worsened on the island since the July 31 
"proclamation" that Raul Castro had assumed temporary 
control.  Between October 2 and 5, we asked ten leading human 
rights and pro-democracy advocates - a majority of them 
former political prisoners -- whether the level of repression 
has increased since the announcement.  Seven said yes, one 
said no and two were ambivalent.  Several of the activists 
reported increased Cuban Government monitoring of dissidents. 
 They described the GOC leadership as disoriented, fearful, 
dangerous and desperate.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU/NF) A USINT Havana survey of ten human rights 
activists between October 2 and 5 found that a majority feel 
that repression in Cuba has intensified since the Cuban 
Government announced Fidel Castro's temporary handover of 
power to his brother, General Raul Castro, on July 31. 
Details are as follows: 
 
¶3. (C) Miguel Valdes Tamayo, of the Assembly to Promote Civil 
Society (APSC) and one of the 75 peaceful activists jailed in 
2003 (but subsequently freed on health grounds), said yes, 
repression has increased.  Authorities have stepped up their 
monitoring of dissidents, Valdes said, and are continuing to 
deploy militant Rapid Response Brigades.  He added that the 
police presence on the streets has increased, and that 
occasional beatings of activists are occurring.  Valdes was 
briefly detained by police on October 2 and 4, following 
visits to a USINT Internet center. 
 
¶4. (C) Elizardo Sanchez, former political prisoner and head 
of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National 
Reconciliation, said there is no clear answer to the 
repression question.  "The numbers tell us that in August and 
September, there was a small decrease in the number of 
documented political prisoners and detainees, compared with 
the same months last year."  However, he said, State Security 
vigilance of dissidents has sharply increased.  "It may be 
premature to say this, but Raul (Castro) may be saying, 
'Maintain the police controls, but without much noise'." 
 
¶5. (C) Eliezer Consuegra Rivas, a Holguin native and head of 
the Eastern Democratic Alliance, said yes, repression has 
gotten worse, and that control against dissidents in eastern 
Cuba has tightened.  "Now we can't even travel freely from 
town to town.  The situation is particularly bad in Holguin, 
Granma, Las Tunas and Santiago." 
 
¶6. (C) Darsi Ferrer, dissident physician, said yes, things 
have worsened.  "Now there is repression against the whole 
population, not just against dissidents."  As evidence, he 
cited the call-up of Army reservists, and new deployments of 
members of the Communist Youth League.  "Raul, while trying 
to give the impression of a tranquillity that doesn't exist, 
has bought enough time to consolidate his power." 
 
¶7. (C) Jorge Olivera, a freed 75er and dissident author, said 
no, repression has not increased.  "It's the same as it was 
before Fidel got sick.  The acts of repudiation are 
continuing." He added, however, that verbal aggression 
against dissidents is increasing.  He said Cuba was going 
through a phase of great uncertainty because Fidel, while 
diminished, is still alive and dangerously powerful.  "If 
Fidel does come back, he will clearly be nowhere near the man 
he used to be.  I'm not convinced he'll be coming back at 
all." 
 
¶8. (C) Alejandrina Garcia de la Riva, a Matanzas native, Lady 
in White, and wife of imprisoned 75er Diosdado Gonzalez 
Marrero, said the answer is yes, repression has risen.  "The 
government is disoriented and fearful.  While (officials) 
still have power, they want to terrorize the population into 
submission."  Garcia, who was subjected to an act of 
repudiation on September 24, said Gonzalez is currently held 
in a punishment cell at Kilo 5.5 prison in Pinar del Rio, 
apparently for writing a message critical of the undemocratic 
transfer of power in Havana. 
 
¶9. (C) Elsa Morejon, of the Lawton Human Rights Foundation 
and wife of 75er Oscar Elias Biscet, said yes, repression has 
worsened.  She said there is more pressure now, and a greater 
police presence.  "There have been more arrests, more 
citations, more fines, against ordinary people who, for 
example, sell soft drinks without a permit or rent out a car 
without government permission."  Morejon said Cubans see a 
power vacuum and are hopeful for change, but have seen no 
progress. "If anything, people live in more fear now than 
 
HAVANA 00020774  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
before the announcement."  She gave the example of Communist 
Party members and others going door to door in various Havana 
neighborhoods during the NAM meetings, finding out who lives 
where and whether all residents are legally entitled to live 
there. 
 
¶10. (C) Roberto de Miranda, freed 75er and head of the Cuban 
Independent Educators College, said yes, repression has 
increased.  He said there is "constant vigilance," and that 
the police on his block station themselves near the front of 
his residence.  In addition, he said, mobs frequently block 
dissidents' homes, particularly in Camaguey.  De Miranda, 
slowly recovering from dengue fever, joked that although 
justice was not always fair in the political world, 
mosquitoes were another matter, and that the local police 
chief in his neighborhood had also contracted dengue. 
 
¶11. (C) Martha Beatriz Roque, freed 75er and APSC President, 
said yes, repression has worsened since the end of July.  She 
commented that activist "Oswaldo Paya said the order to kill 
us (in the event of Fidel's death) has already been issued, 
and I believe him."  However, she noted, the frequent acts of 
repudiation outside her house have abated.  Roque's 
organization plans to hold a series of gatherings she calls 
an independent librarians' "Congress," running from October 
10 to February 24.  Operators of 152 participating 
independent libraries will hold meetings in small groups at 
many of the libraries, she explained. (Note: The Dutch 
Government has provided considerable support in the form of 
office supplies, she said.  End Note.) 
 
¶12. (C) Felix Bonne Carcassas, freed 75er and APSC official, 
says the repression question can't be answered with a simple 
yes or no.  "Whether the level of repression has increased 
depends on who you're talking about, and where in Cuba they 
live."  He said that on the eastern half of the island, 
things are now much worse than before, but that repression 
has not increased out west.  "There's not only more 
repression in the east, there's more impunity."  Bonne said 
some pro-democracy and human rights groups are facing more 
GOC pressure than others.  "The ones that aren't doing 
anything get left alone.  But the government hits APSC pretty 
hard.  Our people down in Santiago can barely leave their 
homes." 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶13. (C) We share the view that repression has intensified in 
Cuba following the July 31 "proclamation."  Some of this 
increase is visible, such as the greater number of uniformed 
police and State Security officers on the streets, and the 
Reservist call-up.  But much of it is subtle, including the 
apparent tightening of travel restrictions on dissidents and, 
we suspect, the use of GOC-directed Communist militants to 
heckle the "Ladies in White."  We have also received credible 
reports that GOC authorities are stepping up confiscations of 
unauthorized literature held by pro-democracy activists.  The 
regime's actions are indicative of a government that is 
interested above all in maintaining tight control over any 
and all political activity on the island. 
PARMLY