CRACKDOWN ON YOUTH IN CENTRAL HAVANA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 001037

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CCA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2017
TAGS: CU PGOV PHUM PINR PREL
SUBJECT: CRACKDOWN ON YOUTH IN CENTRAL HAVANA

Classified By: COM: Michael E. Parmly: For reasons 1.4 b/d


1. (C) SUMMARY: Independent journalist Juan Carlos
Gonzalez Leyva informed several news outlets that between 60
to 70 youths were detained in Central Havana for wearing
bracelets with the word "Cambio" ("Change") on them. Leyva
has given staff at USINT several contradictory versions of
how many people were involved, what precipitated the
crackdown and even what days it occurred on. POL officer has
been able to confirm only two names of those who were
detained. POL officers also could not confirm a reported
arrest of an additional 40 persons on charges of
dangerousness. In what appears a separate action, security
officials took into custody the son of independent trade
union activist Aurelio Bachiller. The son, Macdonis
Bachiller Pedroso, was taken out of bed in his home where he
was recovering from hernia surgery and beaten by police in
jail. He was released on 1 November. Authorities did not
file any charges. End Summary



2. (C) POL officers interviewed several leading dissidents
and independent journalists who had reported a police
crackdown on youths occurring on 28 and 29 October. However,
none could verify the scope of the actions or even details of
what had occurred. The initial source of the story,
independent journalist Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leyva, has at
various times stated that the police in central Havana
detained 60, 70 or several dozen youths for wearing bracelets
with the word "Cambio" on them on either 28, 29 or 30
October. The initial story was that those detained
participated in a protest of the elections on Sunday. He has
stated that the youth were held from any time between a few
hours to more than a day. In a lengthy interview with POL
officer Leyva said that on Sunday, October 28, police
detained 16 youth between the ages of 14 and 16, for carrying
anti-government placards and shouting slogans such as "Down
with Fidel". He then said that on Monday and Tuesday police
picked up 60 to 70 people mostly between the ages of 20 and
30 in a sweep of the neighborhood of anyone wearing a Cambio
bracelet. He stated that the police simply removed the
bracelets from some, while other were detained for as long as
six to fourteen hours. Leyva provided two names of
individuals involved in these activities.


3. (C) However, the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and
National Reconciliation that maintains a list of the names of
all those arrested or detained for political reasons could
not confirm these detentions. A name given by Leyva, Pavel
Copeda Prieto, the nephew of political prisoner Fabio Prieto
Llorente, was with his mother, Clara Lourdes, visiting Fabio
in Isla de la Juventud and could not be contacted. Noted
dissident Roberto de Miranda tried to convince a neighbor of
his who was among the detainees to talk to POL officers but
this youth, even when told his name would not be used, was
too fearful to do so. From the information de Miranda
obtained, the youth did not know how many others were
detained and he was not certain if those detained were
actually wearing a Cambio bracelet.


4. (C) Independent trade union activist Aurelio Bachiller
and his 22 year old son Macdonis Bachiller Pedroso told POL
officer that on 30 October at 11:30 AM 6 security officials
dressed in plain clothes arrived at his house in a vehicle
with commercial plates. They dragged him out of bed where he
was recovering from abdominal hernia surgery performed on 26
October, and brought him to the Zanja jail. Aurelio went to
the jail at 2:00 PM and waited until 3:00 AM trying to get
information from the officials about his son. A person who
was released at 1:00 AM told Aurelio that police beat his son
with truncheons when he resisted being put in the cell,
information Macdonis confirmed to POL officer. The next day
Macdonis called his father and said that he had been brought
to two different hospitals and the doctors recommended
admitting him but he was sent back to jail because there were
no available beds. Macdonis was released on 1 November and
to date has not been charged with anything. Macdonis was
wearing a Cambio bracelet at the time of his arrest and a
state security officer went to Aurelio's home that evening

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stating that the detention was because Macdonis was
distributing these bracelets. Aurelio said that this is
untrue and that his son is not involved in political
activity. Aurelio believes that the actions are in
retaliation to Aurelio's recent activities such as praising
the Bush speech in a interview for Radio International Miami
over the weekend and campaigning against the recent
elections. Both Aurelio and his son have been approved for
the refugee program and recently asked permission from the
Cuban government to leave the island. The state security
officer stated that they would not get this permission if
either of them caused any more trouble.


5. (C) Comment: Although the scope of this crackdown cannot
be determined at this point, several dissident professors and
journalists gathered at Roberto de Miranda's house state that
they see an increase in actions targeting youth. They hear
of frequent threats of the use of the law of "dangerousness,"
which only requires the statement of a police official that
someone has an anti-social attitude, to discourage young
people from getting politically involved.
PARMLY