Cuba Gives Democracy Backers Prison Time

yahoo.com ^ | February 20, 2003 | uncredited

[Cincinatus' Wife]

HAVANA - A Cuban court has sentenced two supporters of the pro-democracy Varela Project to 18 months in prison for contempt and resisting arrest, organizers of the reform movement said.

Jesus Mustafa Felipe, 58, and Robert Montero, 32, were sentenced Tuesday by a provincial court in the eastern city of Palma Soriano, said a statement by the Christian Liberation Movement, whose founder is a top Varela Project organizer.

The contempt and resisting arrest charges evidently were the result of a confrontation the pair had with police in their hometown on Dec. 18, said Efren Fernandez of the Christian Liberation Movement, which informed journalists of the sentences.

The men had visited a local police station to get information about a third man who had been detained and refused to leave when officers ordered them to, Fernandez said in a telephone interview.

The contempt charge is generally applied for acts considered disrespectful to Cuban leaders, symbols or institutions.

In the past it has been used for those accused of publishing or broadcasting insults against President Fidel Castro and other senior government officials, as well as for hanging the national flag upside down in a sign of civil protest.

Christian Liberation Movement founder Oswaldo Paya is a top organizer of the Varela Project, which seeks a referendum on several laws that would guarantee civil liberties such as freedom of speech, assembly and the right to private business ownership. The government has shelved the Varela Project's request for the voters' initiative.

Castro's government refers to the island's dissidents as "counterrevolutionaries" and accuses them of being on the U.S. government payroll - a charge the opponents deny.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Fidel Castro - Cuba

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Cubans harass U.S. envoys passing out Mark Twain novels - economics 101 textbooks *** Cuban agents have increased harassment of U.S. diplomats in recent months in a campaign that includes house break-ins, vandalism and crude acts of intimidation, the State Department says in a memo warning U.S. foreign service officers of tough times if they are posted to the island. Similar acts of harassment are being reported by organizers of Project Varela, a recent petition drive calling for free speech and free elections in the single-party communist state, according to news reports from the island. The memo obtained by The Washington Times lists three pages of "officially sanctioned provocation," including the "leaving of not so subtle messages behind, (including unwelcome calling cards like urine or feces)."***

[cake_crumb]

The socialists and socialist anarchists must be on their knees worshipping Castro again for striking yet another blow to American 'imperialism'.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Hundreds of thousands of people crowd into Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco during an anti-war protest, February 16, 2003. Millions around the world marched in protests this weekend to voice their opposition against a threatened U.S.-led attack on Iraq. (Susan Ragan/Reuters)

A crowd worthy of a 5 hour anti-American diatribe by Fidel Castro.

[cake_crumb]

"A crowd worthy of a 5 hour anti-American diatribe by Fidel Castro."

Yep...AND worthy of all the media's air time (though the billions who did not protest are never mentioned). Absolutely sickening.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

So "worthy" they lie about the facts and the figures.

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[Mr. Jeeves]

Hundreds of thousands of people crowd into Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco during an anti-war protest...

Typical liberal inflation. Even the San Francisco Chronicle estimated the crowd at only 65,000 in a front page headline this morning.

[Beck_isright]

But, but, but, Elian lives in a happy safe nation where freedom rules. I know because Janet Reno said so on tv.
</MEGA BARF ALERT OFF

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Janet should live in such a paradise.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Typical liberal inflation

The lie is all they have.

[Southack]

[Tijeras_Slim]

Cuba Gives Democracy Backers Prison Time

But they'll have free medical care...that's what's important.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

They don't even have that. The cost of medicine is out of reach of most. It's all a lie.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[Tijeras_Slim]

I didn't think you needed the < /sarcasm> tag.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Sorry TS. I knew better.

[Beck_isright]

I agree. So should the rest of her ilk. Amazing. Where is the socialist US media on this story? All I hear are the cricket's chirpping.

[Tijeras_Slim]

That's OK. Stuff like this tends to weary one's soul after awhile. Have a good weekend.