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DE RUEHUB #0515/01 2331656
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P 211656Z AUG 09
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INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
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RUCOWCV/CCGDSEVEN MIAMI FL
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HAVANA 000515 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CCA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/20/2034 
TAGS: PHUM PREL REF CU
SUBJECT: POLITICAL PRISONERS: A RENEWED GROWTH AREA FOR THE 
GOC 
 
REF: A. 08 HAVANA 663 
     ¶B. 07 HAVANA 657 
     ¶C. 07 HAVANA 22 
     ¶D. 06 HAVANA 1379 
     ¶E. HAVANA 178 
 
Classified By: COM Jonathan Farrar for reason 1.4 (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (C) The Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National 
Reconciliation announced on August 10 a three person increase 
in the number of Cuban political prisoners, from 205 to 208. 
This represents the first increase since 2005. The CCHRNR 
highlighted three recent high-profile incarcerations in 
maximum security prisons, most notably the arrest of 
dissident doctor Darsi Ferrer. These incarcerations, combined 
with additional arrests in August, depart from the Government 
of Cuba's (GOC's) normal reliance on widespread, low level 
repression and short-term detentions. 
 
------------------------------------- 
POLITICAL PRISONERS ON THE RISE AGAIN 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) The Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National 
Reconciliation produced its periodic report on human rights 
and political prisoners in Cuba on August 10, 2009. Although 
CCHRNR director Elizardo Sanchez has a troubled past within 
the Cuban opposition and with USINT, CCHRNR reports are 
well-researched, reliable, and widely quoted in the foreign 
press. (Note: No single methodology exists for determining 
political prisoners in Cuba. Sanchez does list several 
controversial figures as political prisoners, but they 
comprise a slight percentage of his total listing. For a 
detailed explanation of his methodology, see Ref A.) 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The report notes an increase in Cuban political 
prisoners during 2009, from 205 to 208. This defies a four 
year-old downward trend, according to past CCHRNR reports, 
which cited the following figures: 
 
REPORTING PERIOD  POLITICAL PRISONERS 
     End of 2004             306 
     End of 2005             333 
     End of 2006             283 
     Mid 2007                246 
     End of 2007             234 
     Mid 2008                219 
     End of 2008             205 
     Mid 2009                208 
 
(REF A, B, C, D) 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Although political prisoners increased by three 
overall, the report reflects eleven new incarcerations in 
¶2009. Eight prisoners were released, either due to parole or 
sentence completion. (Note: Amnesty International's list of 
Cuban "Prisoners of Conscience," annexed to the report, 
decreased from 66 to 65 prisoners due to Mario Enrique Mayo's 
departure from Cuba. Mayo was released from prison on medical 
parole in 2005.) 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The report highlights three new incarcerations of 
opposition activists in Havana. Darsi Ferrer, Jose Diaz 
Silva, and Ernesto Diaz Silva are all being held in maximum 
security prisons. None has been formally charged by the GOC. 
 
DARSI FERRER 
------------ 
¶6.  (SBU) Ferrer is a physician and well respected opposition 
leader. For the past several years, he has organized 
periodic, silent marches down the Malecon (Havana's sea wall) 
which have inspired an increasing following. On July 9, 
Ferrer was planning an afternoon march along the Malecon. 
Police arrived at his house in the morning and took Ferrer 
and his wife into custody for eleven hours. During that time, 
the police and a neighbor took crow bars to Ferrer's house, 
ripping his front door and his windows out by the frames 
while his eight year old son was still inside. When police 
released Ferrer, he refused to leave the police station, and 
 
HAVANA 00000515  002 OF 003 
 
 
asked that he be arrested. He was removed from the station by 
force after being beaten by more than eight police officers 
and nearly strangled. On July 21, state security officials 
came to Ferrer's house and took him away for a "chat" about 
illegal construction materials they had found during the 
"search" of Ferrer's house on July 9. He was taken to Valle 
Grande maximum security prison, where he has been detained 
ever since. The GOC has not yet presented formal charges 
against him. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) On August 18, Ferrer disseminated (via his wife) a 
lengthy, open letter to the ombudswoman of the Ministry of 
the Interior. He explained his long-running persecution by 
state security, and detailed the events of his most recent 
arrest. He clarified why he possessed  "illegal goods" before 
alleging that his arrest was political and noting that a 
high-ranking military officer in his neighborhood had built a 
"mansion" without ever being cited by state security. Ferrer 
closed by noting his aspiration for Cuba to be a "nation 
(where) justice, equality, and opportunities are a reality 
that allow all Cubans a dignified life," and then remarked 
that his particular situation was "just one more case in the 
midst of a grand ocean of injustices." 
 
¶8.  (C) COMMENT: Ferrer's incarceration has sparked unanimous 
calls for his release by Cuban opposition members, and has 
attracted attention in diplomatic circles. Contacts in both 
the dissident and diplomatic communities refer to him as 
"valiant," "honest," and "legitimate;" one diplomatic contact 
referred to him as "the thinking man's dissident."  Elizardo 
Sanchez informed us that he is urging Amnesty International 
to take on Ferrer as a prisoner of conscience. Ferrer's wife 
met with us on August 14; she has also met with the 
Hungarian, Swedish, and Spanish embassies, accompanied on her 
visits by a representative from the EU mission. She is hoping 
to meet with the Czech, Italian, Canadian, and Indian 
embassies as well, and has been in contact with the British 
embassy. Sweden, as current President of the EU, organized a 
Troika meeting for August 21, 2009 to examine Ferrer's 
situation. Ferrer's wife and a dissident attorney were 
invited to make a presentation at the meeting regarding 
Ferrer's legal strategy. END COMMENT. 
 
JOSE DIAZ SILVA and ERNESTO DIAZ SILVA 
-------------------------------------- 
¶9.  (C) Jose Diaz Silva is an active opposition leader in the 
municipality of Boyeros, in Havana, and the head of 
Opositores por una Nueva Republica. He is well known for his 
ability to organize large numbers of people in Boyeros for 
events. Ernesto Diaz Silva is his son. Both Jose and Ernesto 
were beaten by state security on May 25 when fellow dissident 
Martha Beatriz Roque held a workshop at their home. Multiple 
opposition members reported on the event, including Martha 
Beatriz Roque, who published a detailed email with 
photographs of state security agents, the fight, and the 
wounds Jose and Ernesto had suffered. Jose Diaz met with us 
on May 28. He said local police had drawn their guns during 
the fight and had "pistol whipped" Ernesto; Jose believed he 
would have been killed if state security agents hadn't 
intervened and told the local police to holster their 
weapons. He also said that he had never before experienced 
the level of repression he and his family were then facing. 
 
¶10.  (C) Two weeks later both men were arrested. Jose Diaz 
has been held in Valle Grande maximum prison since he was 
detained on June 10, 2009. He has not been formally charged, 
but was detained for "inciting violence."  Elizardo Sanchez 
believes Jose Diaz may be charged or released soon, since the 
sentence for inciting violence is only one to three months, 
and the GOC cannot legally detain someone for a longer period 
of time than the maximum sentence for their crime. Jose's son 
Ernesto Diaz was detained on June 9, 2009 and has been 
incarcerated at Combinado del Este, a notorious, maximum 
security prison in Havana. He has been threatened with three 
to eight years for attempting to injure a police officer, but 
has not yet been formally charged. Elizardo Sanchez, Juan 
Carlos Gonzalez Leyva, and Martha Beatriz Roque all believe 
the Diaz Silvas were arrested because of events on May 25. 
 
------------------------ 
AND THE LIST KEEPS GOING 
------------------------ 
 
 
HAVANA 00000515  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶11.  (C) Two additional noteworthy incarcerations occurred in 
August, after the July 31 closing date for the CCHRNR report. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) ERNESTO MEDERO AROZARENA is an opposition member 
with close ties to Antunez (aka Juan Luis Garcia Perez). 
Medero was on his way from Havana to Villa Clara on August 3 
to join Antunez in celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of 
the Maleconazo. Medero, a member of the opposition 
organization "Presidio Politico Pedro Luis Boitel" and a 
former political prisoner, was detained at the bus terminal 
in Havana, where he allegedly resisted arrest. He is being 
held in Aguica maximum security prison in Matanzas and, 
although he has been threatened with "desacato" (resistance), 
he has not been formally charged. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) JUAN CARLOS GONZALES MARCOS, better known as 
YouTube sensation "PANFILO," was arrested on August 4 and has 
already been sentenced to two years for "peligrosidad" 
(dangerousness). He is incarcerated at Valle Grande maximum 
security prison. Panfilo rose to prominence when he drunkenly 
lurched into a filmed interview with a Cuban musician and 
interrupted it to scream (more or less), "Food! Food! What we 
need in Cuba is food!  There's tremendous hunger here!  Film 
me!  I don't care!  Film me!  Put me on!  What we need is 
FOOD!"  The short video was posted on YouTube and quickly 
spread, with more than 400,000 viewings. It was broadcast on 
Miami television stations, sampled in reggaeton and rap 
remixes, played at a Willy Chirino concert, and converted 
into a wildly popular cell phone ringtone. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Two more Panfilo YouTube videos have surfaced 
since. In the first, Panfilo appears to be sober, and 
explains that he was drunk when the first video was taken, 
and that he doesn't want to have any problems with anyone 
because of politics. He mentions that State Security has 
visited his house and emphasizes that no one paid him a cent 
for the video. In the third video, shot in Vedado by the 
Malecon, Panfilo is blazingly drunk once more, and speaks 
openly of his fear that he will be taken to Villa Marista and 
"disappeared."  He asks viewers to care for his family, and 
dances for a while in the middle of the street. In a recent 
post, blogger Yoani Sanchez stated that no video has 
circulated through "alternative information networks" as 
quickly as Panfilo's since student Eliecer Avila challenged 
Ricardo Alarcon during a discussion. Panfilo's arrest has 
received coverage off-island in international press and is 
widely reported on the internet, not only on YouTube but also 
in chat rooms and on numerous blogs. 
 
------------------------------------- 
THE PRICE OF TAKING IT TO THE STREETS 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶15.  (C) COMMENT: The only "dissident" who has been formally 
sentenced is Panfilo, the hapless, likeable, essentially 
apolitical YouTube star. Interestingly, the GOC chose to 
sentence him with Cuba's most reviled crime, "dangerousness." 
 The government could have silenced Panfilo by 
institutionalizing him for alcoholism in a sanitarium or 
hospital, but instead opted to sentence him within days of 
his arrest. The four "traditional" dissidents who have been 
incarcerated have yet to be charged, but it would not be 
surprising to see the GOC frame these dissidents as common 
criminals, guilty of possessing illegal goods or attacking 
policemen. (Note: By failing to provide a formal charge, the 
GOC also prevents the dissidents from crafting any effective 
legal defense strategy. End Note.) 
 
¶16.  (C) COMMENT (continued): According to our contacts, 
state security will currently tolerate events within a home, 
but will clamp down on civil society leaders who take their 
activities "to the street."  The four dissident 
incarcerations above all center around well-publicized 
events, either on the Malecon, in Boyeros, or in Placetas 
with Antunez. Since Raul Castro took charge, dissidents have 
noted that state security tends towards subtle but effective 
repressive techniques such as short-term detentions, threats, 
surveillance, and harassment (Ref E). Long-term 
incarcerations, particularly of well-known dissidents like 
Darsi Ferrer, have been unusual. If they continue, it would 
signify a decided shift in GOC strategy towards the 
opposition. 
FARRAR