January 31, 2011
On Friday, 27 Cuban pro-democracy activists were violently arrested by the Castro regime for undertaking a peaceful protest.
Amongst them was Guillermo Farinas -- the 2010 recipient of the European Parliament's Sakharov Award for Freedom of Thought.
Due to Farinas' international recognition, there was immediate media coverage regarding his multiple arrests (Farinas was actually arrested three separate times last week), which led to his subsequent releases -- a lesson on the importance of shining an international spotlight on the plight of dissidents and political prisoners.
Unfortunately though, the other 26, less-known, courageous pro-democracy activists remain imprisoned by Castro's secret police and have even started a collective hunger strike demanding their release.
It's time to for the international community and media -- which has been silent on the status of these other 26 activists -- to shine a spotlight on their names as well.
They are:
Idania Yánez Contreras (pictured with her family below), leader of the Central Opposition Coalition (COC); Alcides Rivera Rodríguez, Alexis Oms Pérez, Ramón Alboláes Abreu, Ana Rosa Alfonso Arteaga, Omar Suárez García, Jorge Luis Oliver Díaz, Yunieski García López, Damaris Moya Portieles, Frank Reyes López, José Lino Ascencio López, Yanet Yánez Núñez, Carlos Baluarte Obregón, Rafael Pérez González, Heriberto Pérez del Sol, Alejandro Gabriel Martínez Martínez, Benito Ortega Suárez, Francisco Rangel Manzano, Félix Valenzuela, Carlos Olivera, all members of the COC; and independent journalists Guillermo del Sol Pérez and Liset Zamora Carrandi.
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