HAVANA, Cuba.-A group of Cuban activists asked US congressmen María Elvira Salazar and Mario Díaz-Balart to support the campaign launched for the release of the political prisoner Lizandra Góngorawho faces a sentence of 14 years in prison.
As the letter explains, the activists ask politicians of Cuban origin to support “the dissemination of Lizandra’s critical situation.” Gongora Espinosa, a Cuban mother of five children (…) whose only ‘crime’ was raising her voice during the peaceful protests of July 11, 2021 in Güira de Melena.”
“Lizandra has been the victim of unfounded accusations of sabotage, theft and public disorder and is currently in inhuman conditions in Los Colonos prison, on the Isle of Youth. “She has suffered threats from other inmates and faces an alarming lack of medical care and medication,” says the letter, which emerged from the initiative of a group of activists on the social network X (Twitter).
The health of the political prisoner, a member of the opposition Republican Party of Cuba, has seriously deteriorated as she suffers from fibroids that cause hemorrhages and cyclemia, which has resulted in severe weight loss. “Despite being hospitalized in March, she has not received adequate medical care since her return to prison,” the letter states.
The letter has been sent to senators and congressmen from other American cities to make the issue of Lizandra Góngora visible, so that they can put pressure and take action in the United States Congress.
Honorable Mario Díaz-Balart
United States Congressman
Doral District Office
8669 NW 36th Street, Suite 100
Doral, FL 33166
Phone: (305) 470-8555
Fax: (305) 470-8575Dear Congressman Díaz-Balart:
I am writing to you on behalf of Cuban political activists to…— heidy (@martellheidy1) September 23, 2024
The opponent has been denied a change of prison, which makes contact with her five children, who live in Mayabeque, more than 300 kilometers away, even more difficult. “This intentional separation is part of a regime strategy to punish the entire family.”
“Lizandra has shown admirable strength in the face of these injustices, but the seriousness of her situation demands immediate action. Although we know that your jurisdiction does not include Cuba, we believe that your voice can be essential to bring this message to the international arena and generate pressure on the Cuban regime,” says the activists’ message to Salazar and Díaz-Balart.
Likewise, the letter assures that “the freedom of Lizandra Góngora Espinosa is vital to restore the dignity and rights of her family.”
To date, the campaign in solidarity with the political prisoner that began on September 10 in change.org has accumulated 336 signatures.
The petition denounces that her five children are suffering the consequences of their mother’s imprisonment, as they are victims of bullying due to Lizandra’s political position.
Precisely, the initiative urges “human rights organizations, democratic governments of the world and all people of conscience to denounce this serious violation of human rights and ask for justice for Lizandra and her family.”
