AREQUIPA, Peru – The Attorney General’s Office in Cuba, under the control of the Castro regime, recognized this Saturday the arrests of protesters during the last daysas well as the initiation of criminal proceedings against them.
These are citizens arrested during the protests over the recent blackouts and the crisis that worsened after the passage of hurricanes Oscar and Rafael, which affected the west and east of the Island in less than a month.
A official note of the Prosecutor’s Office reports that, in Havana, Mayabeque and Ciego de Ávila, “criminal proceedings are being processed for crimes of attack, public disorder and damage.” The text omits the number of defendants, as well as the occurrence of arrests in other locations in the country, such as the case of Villa Clara.
“It was decided to impose the precautionary measure of provisional detention on the defendants presented by the investigative bodies of the Ministry of the Interior, for acts of aggression towards authorities and inspectors of the territories that have caused injuries and disturbances of order,” the note states.
According to the information, cited by the regime presswe work on the investigation and conclusion of criminal proceedings for presentation to the Courts.
“Facts of this nature contradict the selfless and supportive attitude of all those who in the current circumstances are dedicated to the tasks of the country’s recovery,” the official speech points out.
Blackouts, peaceful protests and arbitrary arrests
At least five young people were arrested this Friday in Encrucijada, province of Villa Clara, for participating in the peaceful protests against the electricity cuts that occurred on Thursday night.
The detainees, as they were able to identify CubaNetare Rafael Camacho, Héctor Luis Olivera, Marcos Díaz, Rubén Martell and Rodel B. Rodríguez.
On Thursday morning, around twenty relatives of the detainees gathered at the local police station. This was declared to CubaNet Aliucha Herrera, mother of Rafael Camacho.
“Last night we went out to peacefully protest against the current because we had been without it for 72 hours, and this morning they began to pick up young people, including my son. They took my son’s phone and they haven’t given it to me. Here we are a group of 20 people more or less waiting,” said the mother shortly before losing complete communication.
The NGO Justicia 11J reported Herrera’s arrest after appearing at the police station to inquire about his son. Likewise, the organization confirmed the “arbitrary arrests” of Yordanka López, Diosbany Almaguer and Adiane Hernández, “in relation to a protest in El Eucalipto (Ciro Redondo, Ciego de Ávila)” that occurred on November 7.
Simultaneously, Justice 11J reported arrests in the town of Manicaragua, also in Villa Clara. This entity has reported that, between August 18 and 31, at least 51 public protest events were recorded in the country, which included confrontations with authorities, banging pots and pans, street closures, posting of posters and damage to state property.
Last Wednesday, the Cuban authorities announced the total disconnection of the National Electroenergy System (SEN) supposedly due to the impact of Hurricane Rafael. This is the second total blackout in the country in less than a month (the previous one began on October 18 and lasted around four days).
After that blackout, Justice 11J reported the arrest of at least five people: Raymond Márquez, Narbiel Torres and Osvaldo Agüero in Manicaragua, Villa Clara; and Luis Adrian Pupo in Songo La Maya, Santiago de Cuba.
In the midst of the total blackout, the Cuban ruler, Miguel Díaz-Canel, threatened to citizens who protested the energy collapse. In the video of a meeting released by the Presidency’s office, Díaz-Canel assured that his government was not going to accept or allow “anyone to act causing vandalism and much less altering the citizen tranquility of our people.”
