HAVANA, Cuba – The first thing he did Felix Navarro Rodriguez Upon being released this Saturday, he went to visit his elderly and sick sister, who thought she would die without being able to see him again. “The meeting was very exciting, we are very united,” he declared to CubaNet the 71-year-old political prisoner, who spent 3 years and six months in prison.
Navarro Rodríguez was serving a nine-year prison sentence, under constant physical and psychological torture in one of the worst prisons in Cuba, Agüica. His daughter, Saily Navarro, would be sentenced to eight years in prison, both after participate in protests on July 11, 2021 in the town of Perico, province of Matanzas.
This newspaper spoke by telephone with Navarro, president of the Pedro Luis Boitel Party for Democracy, former political prisoner of the Group of 75 and with a career of more than 30 years in the opposition on the Island.
Camila Acosta: Félix, I am very happy to hear your voice and, above all, to know that you are already home with your wife. How’s your health? We heard that you had some incidents in prison.
Felix Navarro: Unfortunately, I have the problem of diabetes, what happens to me is that my sugar drops too low and I lose consciousness. I also take good care of myself, although since Sunday I haven’t taken any medication because there wasn’t any in prison.
AC: How did you find out that you were going to be released? What was that process like?
FN: On Tuesday night, on the national television news, they began to talk about this situation, that they removed Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, from where they should never have removed it because they are terrorists. A terrorist is one who uses terror to develop.
The management of the Agüica prison – and I am not talking about the others because I was not in them – is terrorist, Lieutenant Colonel Emilio Cruz Rodríguez, head of the Agüica prison, is a terrorist, he holds that prison based on terror, He uses hunger as torture, the food that is left over, and there is always left over, cannot be given to any prisoner, those who are malnourished, or those who have no family members during visits, the guard who does that, he punishes them; But, above all, the beatings, the violations of the law, things are done there that the law does not establish anywhere. (…)
They said (on television) that they were going to free 553 with the mediation of the Pope and all that; I told the people “those are the ones who were imprisoned on July 11.” And so it has been, the only thing I regret is that they freed me first than the women; This terrorist government does not liberate women, and they say they have a project for the advancement of women, for the improvement of women, why don’t they work on this? Why didn’t they release these women first, these young women like Sisi Abascal, a young woman who is not even 30 years old and has a 6-year sentence? It’s because he was on the street a while ago but they deny him all those benefits.
I have faith, because I trust that the Pope is not going to remain calm in this situation, if they leave prisoner some of those who have not yet been released. I hope that in the next few hours we will be happy again for the liberation of these women, both those who are active in our party and the other women who are, throughout the national territory, deprived of their freedom for having participated on July 11 of 2021 in the riots that occurred.
AC: Did they make any threats to you? Were you released on extra-penal license or parole?
FN: I thought it would be extra-penal but no. The president of the Municipal Court of Perico, together with Lieutenant Colonel Diosdado, second chief of prisons of the province of Matanzas, were there in the Canaleta prison, and they only explained to me that they were giving me conditional release and that I had to appear on the 29th at the Court, before the executing judge, to detail issues regarding my employment situation and so on.
I am 71 years old, I was a teacher for more than 20 years, director of a Basic Secondary School in Perico until they expelled me for treason against the revolution when they caught me putting up posters against the government. I know that they will not give me the chalk again or let me paint a classroom again, but I would like to be able to work to at least have the right to a retirement.
AC: We know that you were imprisoned with your daughter, Saylí Navarro. She is serving an eight-year prison sentence. During this time, have you been able to see her? What has this situation been like for you and your family, the fact that both of you have been unjustly imprisoned?
FN: The arrest of all the women, from all of Cuba, but I know those from Matanzas well, has been unfair. That totally moved me, but I feel very proud of the development of all these women in prison. The cases that I know the most are lode de Tania Echevarria, Sissi Abascal and of Saylíwho have kept the injustices at bay in the place, have maintained a very high dignity, typical of the White Ladies and the peaceful opposition within Cuba.
As for my daughter, they took her to prison starting with the appeal trial, on April 18, 2022. In November of that same year, State Security began to take her to the Agüica prison so that we could see each other, a two-hour visit and surrounded by guards. They did this every 45 days and it was done until last month, the next visit would be in February.
AC: I know that you are a very loved person in the town, how have people received you?
FN: Well, we had to walk from the Canaleta prison, which is 2 km away, and from the road people were already calling me on the phone, or stopping on the road to greet me, because the road is part of the central highway of Cuba and It is very busy.
Seeing my sister was a tremendous joy. She is almost 80 years old and has always been an exemplary citizen, anti-communist all her life.
And here in Perico, it’s not that I’m a beloved person, but that almost everyone knows me, I’ve been here all my life and I was a teacher for many years. I greet and deal with everyone, whether they are communists, snitches, or dogs of the regime, I am not interested. Now, if you ask me what I think of Fidel Castro, I answer “the greatest murderer that has ever passed through the history of humanity, the one responsible for my country being bankrupt and in total crisis.” I tell that to anyone.
AC: Félix, how many political prisoners were released along with you?
FN: There were five of us in total, although I don’t remember everyone’s name: some jimaguas from Cárdenas (Roberto Michel and Roberto Jesús), Echegoyen, and another boy from Cárdenas.
AC: Well, you know that there will only be 553 prisoners that the regime said it would release, but in Cuba there are currently more than 1,100 political prisoners, not only from 11J, but from before and after those protests. That is to say, unfortunately, not all political prisoners are going to benefit from these releases.
What message do you have for them? What hope do you have left in this fight for the freedom of Cuba?
FN: We think that the bush has been completely removed, the bush is communism in Cuba, which is those who hold power in Cuba, and we are going to finish uprooting it, with the help of this people.
The power in Cuba and we are going to finish uprooting it understands with the help of these people with the help of this long-suffering people.
There are comments that they are going to give pardons for common prisoners, that is, for a certain number of common prisoners, but this has not been officially disseminated but it has been commented on because a soldier in Agüica told me so, perhaps he did it to look good, I don’t know.
To the relatives of political prisoners who are not currently imprisoned, of those on July 11 as well as the rest of the protests that took place from this date, and before that date, to have a lot of faith, to support those Guys who communicate with all the opposition organizations, that is, the opposition, they can even give us our phone number to find out what is happening. We are going to work firmly for the release of all of them.
AC: Félix, I send you a big hug, to you and to you. wifeI hope they also release Saylí so that the family can be reunited again after so much time and so much pain.
FN: Yes, thank you very much, to you and to all the people who have supported us. To all of you, may God bless you. A hug.
