DISSIDENT DETENTIONS AND ROBBERIES ON RISE IN CUBA

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 022158 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/25/2016 TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU SUBJECT: DISSIDENT DETENTIONS AND ROBBERIES ON RISE IN CUBA Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d). ¶1. (C) Summary and Comment: While rumors abound over how much time Fidel Castro has left (septel),Cuban authorities are increasingly detaining and even robbing pro-democracy and human rights activists. In the past 10 days, at least seven dissidents were detained, most for brief periods, after visiting a diplomatic office or residence. In other cases, National Revolutionary Police or State Security officials raided dissidents' homes and seized money, rather than limiting their confiscations to "subversive" books and radios. The GOC's stepped-up use of detentions and warnings is aimed at removing the guesswork for dissidents and sending one unequivocal message: The Comandante may be sick, but don't even think about acting up, because we will swat you down. End Summary and Comment. ¶2. (C) Since mid-October, Cuban regular and political police have detained at least seven human rights and pro-democracy activists after they visited either USINT, the Germany Embassy or the residence of a German Embassy official. In addition, the GOC recently summoned the Norwegian Ambassador and complained that dissidents were spotted near his Embassy, where one or two Internet terminals have been made available to some Cubans. Activists Roberto Miranda and Pascual Silva Cruz of the Cuban Liberal Movement (MLC) were picked up outside the German Embassy on October 23; Silva remains at a Havana police station. Miranda was freed after a two-hour talk with State Security officials, who hinted at prison time if Miranda continues his dissident activities. Miguel Valdes Tamayo of the Assembly to Promote Civil Society (APSC) was detained October 20 for at least the fifth time this month. (Note: Valdes may be targeted for extra harassment because he is spreading news about the ongoing, APSC-organized "Congress" of independent libraries. End Note.) Activists Juan Carlos Linares Balmaseda, Orlando Fundora and Yolanda Estupinan were also briefly detained. Elizardo Sanchez Pacheco of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation confirms that his group has seen a sharp rise in detentions. ¶3. (C) In Ciego de Avila on October 16, "Lady in White" Yolanda Vera Nerey received a visit from a representative of an Italian NGO, who dropped off 1,500 USD, which Vera tells us was to be subsequently distributed to various activists in the city. Fifteen minutes after he left, State Security officials raided the house and seized the money. On September 28 in Havana, State Security raided the home of elderly activist Julio Ruiz Pitaluga, who spent two decades behind bars as a political prisoner and now represents the pro-democracy group "Plantados." Ruiz tells us State Security confiscated not only all of his books and radios, but his money: 300 convertible Cuban pesos (more than 300 USD). USINT has received other reports of dissident robberies, mainly in the eastern provinces. COMMENT -------------- ¶4. (C) The GOC's stepped-up use of detentions is aimed at removing the guesswork for dissidents and sending an unequivocal message: the Comandante may be sick, but don't even think about acting up, because we will swat you down. For the GOC, detentions not only give dissidents quality time at a police station to think about serving a long sentence, but also they act as a reminder to eyewitnesses, including other dissidents, not to cross the line. And because brief detentions rarely find their way into the international media, the regime is able to avoid the damaging ramifications of sentencing a dissident to a lengthy term. A bigger-picture interpretation of these human rights violations is their lack of creativity. There is little new in the Raul Castro playbook, undercutting analyses that attribute reformist qualities to Cuba's back-up dictator. We see nothing Raul has said or done since he took over as any signal of change. PARMLY