Ladies in White Supporter Gravely Ill, Violently Attacked

Por LoriG Hoy a las 7:27 pm

Ladies in White Supporter Gravely Ill, Violently Attacked and Denied Medical Attention

By Cuban Democratic Directorate

Santa Clara, Cuba. March 31, 2010. Cuban Democratic Directorate. Juana Gómez Riego was brutally assaulted by the Castro regime’s State Security forces while marching together with the Ladies in White in Havana during the 7 days of marches commemorating the Black Spring crackdown of 2003. The beating she received at the hands of State Security caused fractures in her ribs, abdominal swelling and other symptoms of serious injury. The political police have gone on to interfere repeatedly with her attempts to receive adequate medical attention, leaving her in an extremely precarious state of health without an accurate diagnosis and assessment of her situation.

Gómez Riego is a Dama de Apoyo, a supporter who marches together with the Ladies in White, and joins in with their demand for the release of the Ladies’ relatives, the victims of the 2003 crackdown.

"They gave me a push and I fell on top of a tube and I broke two of my lower ribs. The tube went in through my stomach and under those ribs. They nearly killed me,” reported Juana Gómez Riego by telephone to the Cuban Democratic Directorate (Directorio).

"At this moment I am very ill and I have a very large swelling in the liver and spleen. My heart palpitates frequently, I have high blood pressure and I am waiting at home to see what happens," said Gómez Riego.

According to Gómez Riego and her daughter, State Security officers, among them Héctor de la Fe Freire, head of confrontation with the opposition in Villa Clara, interfered with her medical treatment first at Calixto Garcia Hospital in Havana, then at the Military Hospital in the province of Villa Clara and for the third time at Arnaldo Milián Castro Hospital in Santa Clara. They exerted influence over decisions taken and diagnoses made by doctors and nurses at those hospitals, resulting in the repeated denial of medical treatment for unclear and contradictory reasons. She was urged to stay home.

On the third occasion, Gómez Riego describes how Dr. Dianelys Reyes Hernández at Arnaldo Milián Castro Hospital gave her urgent treatment. The doctror’s attitude changed completely after she disappeared for an hour accompanied by State Security agents.

“When they took me [to the hospital] I was well attended [by Dr. Reyes Hernández] at the time, but after those men took her down the hallway, when she returned, she returned with another attitude. She told my family ‘She is already well, take her with you’. All the security personnel were outside,” stated the activist.

“I hold the Cuban government responsible for what may happen to my mother, because my mother is in a very fragile state,” stated Gómez Riego’s daughter, Dainí Sánchez Gómez to Directorio.