DEATH THREAT FOR CUBAN ACTIVIST ROQUE

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 016698

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/21/2016
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: DEATH THREAT FOR CUBAN ACTIVIST ROQUE


Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d).


1. (C) Summary: Cuban pro-regime thugs held a late-night "act
of repudiation" August 19-20 outside the home of
pro-democracy activist Martha Beatriz Roque and brandished a
pistol while inviting her to "step outside so we can kill
you." Roque, head of the Assembly to Promote Civil Society
(APSC),told us that it was the worst act of repudiation she
had ever experienced. Roque also told us of a meeting hosted
by the Hungarian Ambassador in which the Czech, Polish and
Slovak chiefs of mission took part, along with Roque and
fellow activists Oswaldo Paya and Vladimiro Roca. Roque said
the Hungarian Ambassador told her and Paya that a Hungarian
NGO is interested in setting up an Internet center in Havana.
She described her conversation with Paya as "positive and
fluid," marking the first such conversation in four or five
years. Hunger-striking journalist Guillermo Farinas
reportedly ordered his IV drip to be cut off on August 20,
but was granted a transfer to a different hospital wing the
same day. It is unclear whether he subsequently ordered the
catheter to be reinserted. End Summary.


2. (C) Roque said a half-dozen men, including a resident of
her housing complex, occupied the complex's hallway for six
hours and staged an "act of repudiation" against her. She
said the participants "acted drunk," hurled insults and
obscenities and hammered on her window with the butt of a
pistol, inviting her to "step outside so we can kill you."
One of the participants told the others he had attacked Felix
Bonne and not suffered any consequence. (Note: On January
29, a Communist militant knocked Bonne, 67, of APSC, to the
ground. End Note.) Roque told Poloff August 21 that she
viewed the incident as payback for spreading news about
Guillermo Farinas, the hunger-striking independent journalist
being kept alive with IV fluids at a Santa Clara hospital.
Roque said she was afraid for her life. "They might have
been just acting drunk to scare me, but they might have
actually been drunk. If they're drunk and get out of hand
and they actually kill me, the Government can hide behind the
alcohol excuse."

HUNGARIANS PROPOSE INTERNET CENTER
--------------


3. (C) Roque also told us of a meeting August 17 hosted by
the Hungarian Ambassador in which the Czech, Polish and
Slovak chiefs of mission took part, along with Roque and
fellow leading activists Oswaldo Paya and Vladimiro Roca.
Roque said the meeting, at a restaurant, marked the Hungarian
Government's first outreach to dissidents in Havana. She
said it was also the first time that Roque and Paya had held
"a real, positive conversation" in four or five years. At
one point in the evening, Roque said, the Hungarian
Ambassador asked to switch seats with the Czech Ambassador
and, seated between Roque and Paya, informed them quietly
(and exclusively) that an unidentified Hungarian NGO "has
money to set up an Internet center in Cuba," and asked their
views. Roque and Paya favored the idea and said they would
give some thought to where the proposed center should be
located. Roque added that any such center should offer
dissidents the chance to view satellite TV.

FARINAS REPORTEDLY REMOVES CATHETER
--------------


4. (C) Roque quoted Alicia Fernandez, the mother of Guillermo
Farinas, as saying that her son had ordered the removal
August 20 of a catheter through which fluids were sustaining
his body. However, the same day, authorities granted
Farinas' request to be transferred to another wing of Arnaldo
Milian Castro hospital, where he could receive visitors. It
was not clear August 21 whether the catheter had been
reinserted. Farinas, campaigning for Internet access for all
Cubans, has waged a hunger strike since January 31.
PARMLY