Gutiérrez-Boronat, Secretary of the ACR, pointed out that the three mercenaries requested to send a message to their families in Cuba to confirm that they are alive and out of danger.
MIAMI.-The Assembly of the Cuban Resistance (ARC) presented this Monday in Miami the results of the recent trip of its secretary general, Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat, to Ukraine, where he held meetings with three Cubans captured while fighting in the ranks of the Russian army. The prisoners—Ernesto Michel Pérez Arbeláez, Frank Darío Jarrosay Manfuga and Yusbel González Tuercos—remain in the custody of the Ukrainian authorities and, according to the opponent, they are treated “with respect and humanity.”
Gutiérrez-Boronat noted that the three requested to send a message to their families in Cuba to confirm that they are alive and out of danger, although he stated that they have been “witnesses of the horrors that Russia has unleashed against the Ukrainian people.” The meeting was recorded on video and will be released to the media soon.
During the press conference, the leader of the ARC assured that there is “solid evidence” of the participation of the Cuban regime in the recruitment of citizens sent to fight in Ukraine. According to him, it is an operation supervised by Castro’s intelligence from the moment the recruits leave Cuba until their arrival in Russian territory. These findings will form part of a report that will be sent to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
The opponent indicated that each combatant would be paid around $2,000 and that recruitment networks also operate in South American countries. He also added that Colombian guerrilla groups participate in the conflict to acquire “modern military experience” before returning to their country. He assured that he was “convinced, based on investigations by the Ukrainian authorities, that the Cuban regime receives money from Russia,” within the framework of a military collaboration that, he said, dates back to the years of the Cold War. “This proves that Havana does not act as a simple observer, but as an active partner in the Russian war machine,” he stated.
“The Cuban regime is receiving a bonus for each mercenary.” assured
Gutiérrez-Boronat stressed that Ukraine’s recent vote at the United Nations against the Cuban regime he had “the full support of the Cuban exile” and described it as “a victory in the search for a free Cuba.” He also highlighted the importance of Europe supporting the Cuban people and not continuing with the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement that the island’s dictatorship takes advantage of.
“We are in a new stage for the freedom of Cuba, and I ask the exile for patience because this fight is ours and we have an American government that supports our work,” he emphasized.
Regarding the future of the Cuban prisoners in Ukraine, Gutiérrez-Boronat explained that, due to the state of war, kyiv cannot specify their final destination, although he guaranteed that “they will not be subject to the death penalty.” However, he stressed that they will have to face legal proceedings.
At the same meeting, René Bolio, president of the Cuba Justice Commission, demanded that the international community investigate the criminal responsibility of the Cuban regime, civilian recruiters and international operators involved in human trafficking.
Cuba: the country that sends the most mercenaries to Russia
Last September 18, Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart led a virtual briefing on national security. There, advisors to the Ukrainian Government and legislators from kyiv assured that some 20,000 Cuban citizens had been recruited by Russia to fight in the invasion. Presidential advisor Vladyslav Vlasyuk specified that Ukraine has physically identified more than a thousand of these fighters and that at least 250 contracts would have expired without those recruited being released. He also confirmed that the average salary offered amounts to $2,000 per month and that the average age of the participants is 35 years old. “On average they die between 140 and 150 days after signing the contract; the shortest known period is seven days,” he added.
During the session, documents were presented that, according to the Ukrainian authorities, demonstrate the operation of these networks. Among them are complaints from Cuban families to Russian authorities for disappearances, non-payments and forced retention after the expiration of contracts. The case of a Cuban woman hired for 195,000 rubles a month was mentioned, as well as a criminal case in Russia against recruiter Yelena Smirnova, accused of defrauding the salaries of between 300 and 400 Cubans. Letters from recruits were also shown denouncing non-payment and the impossibility of leaving military units deployed in Crimea.
Oleksandr Merezhko, president of the Foreign Relations Commission of the Ukrainian Parliament and member of the Free Cuba Caucus, placed the phenomenon within what he described as “the axis of evil”, composed – according to him – of allied authoritarian regimes. “The Castro regime in Cuba plays a special role in Latin America,” he stated, and maintained that those who help Russia “must be considered complicit in the war crimes committed by Moscow.” Merezhko announced that he will promote before European bodies the recognition of the Cuban regime as “a terrorist regime.”
