MASSIVE CRACKDOWN TARGETS THE AVERAGE CUBAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 000835

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA/CCA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2018
TAGS: CU PGOV PHUM PINR PREL
SUBJECT: MASSIVE CRACKDOWN TARGETS THE AVERAGE CUBAN

REF: HAVANA 818

Classified By: COM: Jonathan Farrar: For reasons 1.4 b/d


1. (C) SUMMARY: Many members of civil society from
various parts of Cuba have reported widespread arrests for
petty economic crimes, such as illegal street vending,
possession of building materials, and selling items for more
than the official prices in the aftermath of hurricanes
Gustav and Ike. Police surveillance has increased, most
noticeably around the fruit and vegetable markets. There are
increased signs of popular discontent due to the food
shortages. At the same time, repression against dissidents
continues an increase that had begun even before the storms.
On October 15, police violently broke up a meeting of
dissidents in a private home in Santa Clara. Dissident
doctor Darsi Ferrer stated that on October 15 while walking
in Havana, he was forcibly shoved into a vehicle and then
handcuffed and blindfolded by state security agents.
However, the Cuban dissident community appears to be at a
loss as how to respond to the wave of repression and the
emerging popular discontent following the devastation caused
by the hurricanes. End Summary.



2. (C) In the aftermath of hurricanes Gustav and Ike,
various members of Cuban civil society have reported numerous
arrests for petty economic crimes throughout Havana and in
many other cities. They tell us that many people have been
arrested for activities, such as unlicensed selling of soft
drinks in the street, that Cubans engage in routinely in
order to make ends meet. Many have received jail sentences
ranging for one to four years, in some cases after summary
trials held in police stations rather than courts. We also
have heard reports of people arrested for being in possession
of small amounts of building materials, such as a few roof
tiles or bags of cement. Opposition member Domingo Lezcano
Arcos, said that a youth in his Havana neighborhood, who was
stopped in the street with one bag of cement, received a one
year sentence. Independent librarian Roberto de Miranda said
that a youth in his neighborhood in Central Havana received a
four year sentence for selling one egg at more than the
official price. On October 21, in a very unusual move, since
in Cuba the government very rarely publishes any type of
statistics on arrests, the official Communist Party
newspaper, Granma, printed an article on arrests for crimes
such as "profiteering" after the hurricanes. The articles
mentioned that 24.5% of the people were given prison terms,
while another 21.3% were sentenced to forced labor. In the
past, such crimes were almost exclusively punished by fines.
The article seemed designed as much to threaten as to inform.


3. (C) USINT employees and civil society contacts have
reported increased vigilance by police and state security
forces. Police are conducting traffic stops and searches of
pedestrians more frequently. There has been a heavy presence
of plainclothes security agents in the area of fruit and
vegetable markets, whose stalls have been nearly empty the
past several weeks. Officially they are present to prevent
over-charging, but many civil society members allege that the
security agents are also listening for murmurs of complaints
from the general public. At the same time that security
services are cracking down on these kinds of economic
"crimes," we are hearing from contacts, domestic employees,
and LCNs that there also has been a sharp upswing in common
crimes such as burglaries, assaults and purse snatchings
taking place.


4. (C) Dissident leader, Carlos Millares Falcon, stated that
he has seen several incidents of people who never were
involved in dissident activities speaking out. He stated
that on October 21 he received a call from a good friend who
related, while it was happening, the outbreak of a
spontaneous protest in the streets of her neighborhood of
Luyano in the municipality of 10 de Octubre. The friend said
that without any apparent leadership her neighbors poured out
in the street banging empty plastic cooking oil bottles, and
pots and pans. She said rapidly a huge contingent of police
and party loyalists from a Rapid Response Brigade forcibly
squashed the demonstration. Millares and others also
reported seeing anti-government graffiti. Except for

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official slogans, graffiti of any kind is almost unknown in
Cuba. An example of the new signs is: "Preferimos al viejo
con hambre que al Raul con sangre". (Loosely translated:
"Better to go hungry with the old man than have Raul's bloody
plans").


5. (C) There also continue to be cases of repression of
dissidents. On October 15 police forcibly entered the home
of Idania Yanes Contreras in Santa Clara. Several leading
dissidents, including Ana Margarito Brito and Jorge Luis
Garcia Perez ("Antunez") were present. Police overturned
furniture and confiscated a radio, some books and copies of
the UN Declaration of Human Rights. In the course of the
action, a police officer allegedly pushed Idania's eight year
old son, Roberto Alcides Riveras Yanes, to the floor, causing
several bruises including to the face. Eleven people were
taken into custody, and later released without charges.
Yanes Contreras and Antunez are currently on hunger strike to
protest the incident.


6. (C) Dissident doctor Darsi Ferrer told Poloff that on
October 15 while walking in the street he was forced into a
vehicle and then blindfolded and placed in plastic handcuffs.
He was taken to a place where he was threatened with arrest
if he did not stop his activities. The officials
specifically mentioned a poll that he conducted in which he
obtained responses from a wide range of people in various
parts of Cuba. He is presently tabulating the results of
this unscientific poll. Preliminary results indicate that
the changes respondents most want to see are the freedom to
travel, an end of the dual currency system and an increase in
salaries. Several people also mentioned the marked
deterioration in the health and education systems. Free
elections or the freeing of political prisoners were not seen
as priorities, according to Ferrer.


7. (C) Comment: The twin hurricanes have given the GOC the
impetus to launch its most severe crackdown on the general
public in recent years. At the same time, dissident leaders
are frustrated that they are unable to capitalize on the
growing unrest since they can offer little support to the
rest of society, have not crafted a message compelling to the
general public, and are themselves under severe pressure from
the government. Rather than pursuing economic reforms to
stimulate production, the GOC seems focused on keeping the
lid on public unrest until such time as the normal
growing/import cycles bring food supplies back to their
pre-storm (and inadequate at that) levels.

FARRAR