MYSTERY OF CUBAN DISSIDENT SWALLOWING TOXIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000389 SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CCA E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2017 TAGS: CU PGOV PHUM PINR PREL SUBJECT: MYSTERY OF CUBAN DISSIDENT SWALLOWING TOXIC SUBSTANCE Classified By: COM: James L. Williams: For reasons 1.4 b/d ¶1. (C) Summary: Iraida Soledad Rivas Verdecia, member of Ladies in White and wife of prominent Cuban dissident, Roberto de Miranda, on May 8, drank form a glass that may have contained a toxic substance. De Miranda states that he does not know how this happened. He said that the incident is difficult to explain as a an accident, but he does not have evidence that someone deliberately tried to harm Rivas. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Roberto de Miranda is the president of the Colloquium of Independent Educators, the founder of Cuba's first independent library, and one of the 75 pro-democracy activists arrested in a massive crackdown in 2003. On any day of the week the house is full of visitors, neighbors and dissidents staying there temporarily. Rivas feeds a large number of people nearly every day. On May 8, she provided lunch for 15 people. ¶3. (C) After lunch, Rivas drank a glass of water that she left in the refrigerator. Any visitor who frequently went to the house would have been able to identify the glass as the one Rivas always uses. Rivas stated that on this occasion she tasted something like kerosene. The family contacted a doctor who came to the home. De Miranda knows a network of medical providers who offer care to the dissident community. Vomiting was induced and after several hours Rivas recovered. ¶4. (C) Neither Rivas nor de Miranda could think of a clear scenario where this could have happened accidentally. Many people had access to the kitchen. De Miranda stated that a fourteen-year old retarded girl was present that day but it is hard to imagine that she would have tampered with the water and then returned it to the same place in the refrigerator. De Miranda said that he allows anyone to enter his house without consideration, even if they may be infiltrators from state security. He admits the possibility that this was an act of intimidation perpetrated by someone from State Security. Although de Miranda receives little from abroad, he mentioned the possibility of someone being jealous because de Miranda has cellphones and receives medicines from abroad. ¶5. (C) A further mystery is that nearly immediately someone called anonymously de Miranda's son, Mikael, who lives in Florida, and stated his mother had just swallowed a toxic substance. De Miranda said that many people in Cuba know his son's number but he does not know why someone would have called without leaving a name. ¶6. (C) Comment: De Miranda is trying to treat this incident as an accident because he does not want to cause panic within his group. However, he immediately took measures to control the visitors to his house, blocking access to the kitchen and the bedroom. The facts around this incident are unclear, yet it added stress to an already tense environment in which many opposition figures are apprehensive because the GOC has stepped up a media campaign against the opposition, trying to brand them as "counter-revolutionaries" and "mercenaries in the pay of the US government." WILLIAMS PARMLY