what counts Granma “It’s a great falsehood, and I don’t care that State Security comes for me and that the police come to my house, that’s a lie.”
This is how Yudinela Castro, mother of young Rowland Jesús Castillo, one of the July 11 protesters tried in Havana at the beginning of this February, reacted to the post this monday of a report in the official organ of the Communist Party. In it, they transcribe an alleged audio in which his son regrets having demonstrated on that day of protest. “I witnessed my son’s oral hearing and at no time did he say what the newspaper publishes Granma”.
“At no time did he state that he felt sorry, he only asked to be given the opportunity to continue his sports career in wrestling to help me, who is a leukemia patient, and to be able to finish raising his son who is now He hasn’t even turned two years old,” details the mother, who already gave his testimony to 14ymedio.
“Give me the facility to continue my studies and continue practicing my sport, that’s what he said,” insists the mother. “I am proud of what he did, although I am very upset that I could not be by his side on the day of the demonstrations and have been able to give him the support that he and the other young people who took to the streets deserved.”
Despite the fact that the authorities told him that he would receive the sentence last week, this did not happen, but he remembers that the Prosecutor’s Office lowered the initial prison request for Rowland Jesús Castillo, from 23 to 12 years.
“I am disgusted not only by the injustice that is being committed against my son but also by this cruel dictatorship that is capable of depriving these young people of their freedom”
“They have tried in the trial to make believe that there was no aggressiveness or police violence“, lamented Castro, “but Miguel Díaz-Canel himself gave the combat order, threw a town into a fight, and my own son was beaten by a police officer from Aguilera’s unit.” Others were less lucky: “they were shot “.
In addition, he denounces all the manipulation that the media is displaying at the service of the Government: “The first day that I was able to enter the trial, after being repressed and beaten on the first day, official television approached me to interview me. I asked the journalist if they were going to convey my opinions that I did not agree with the prosecutor’s petition against my son. Then another person came and told me to come into the room, they did not interview me.”
“Perhaps I am not in good health, but I have all the moral strength to continue fighting for my son’s freedom,” he clarifies. “Whatever it takes, I’m not going to get tired until he’s released. He’s not a criminal.”
Castro does not stop showing his discomfort: “I am disgusted not only by the injustice that is being committed with my son but also with this cruel dictatorship that is capable of depriving these young people of their freedom.”
The mother sends a direct message to the repressors: “To all the henchmen who are playing with the feelings of mothers who have their children in prison, I warn you that a grieving mother is capable of doing anything.”
Castro thanked the support she has received from other women in the same case, from the independent press that has given her the opportunity to tell what is happening, and from those outside of Cuba who have supported her in such a difficult cause: “Mothers, although the pain kills us, we have to continue fighting for the freedom of our children”.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our journal. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
