Havana Cuba. – Former political prisoner Tony Alberto Salazar Deulofeo was released on December 25, 2022, after serving two years in prison in Valle Grande Penitentiarya place where he experienced abuse, humiliation and hunger, he says.
According to what he told CubaNet the activist of Movement of Opponents for a New Republic (MONR)in prison he lived and witnessed abuses against inmates.
“They humiliated me, they told me that I was not a political prisoner, that it was common, they offended me, they beat me; they said he was aggressive. The only thing I can do against them is raise my voice and denounce all the wrong things done,” said the opponent.
In addition, Salazar Deulofeo reported that the agents of the State Security they spoke “badly” to him of the leaders and members of the opposition. “They said that he was a puppet instructed by the opposition, but I know that they wanted to manipulate me and make me work for them,” said the activist, who was accused of the alleged crimes of disobedience and resistance.
The day he received the most blows was when he came out in defense of another political prisoner, Daniel Monterrey Santiesteban, known as El Trompo, who was in the same company. On that occasion four officers savagely beat him.
“They took me to a small room, three guards held me while one punched me in the chest and in the face. After that they wanted to charge me with an attack, ”she said.
Another of the forms of torture used by prison guards consists of sending common cause inmates to attack politicians, promising benefits to the former, according to Salazar Deulofeo.
Food and medicine crisis in Valle Grande
“In Valle Grande there are many robberies with food: from the heads of logistics to the ‘door-opener’ they carry everything they send to cook for the prisoners and what they end up doing is a little sancocho; So the inmate does not complain out of fear, ”he recounted.
As described by the MONR delegate, the rice is distributed in an aluminum jug cut in half and flush; the hash is a paste that looks like “vomit”; They give the jam in a soda knob cap (cucumber); and the soup is made with the same water where the root vegetables are boiled, be it plantain or cassava.
“In addition, many times the tea that they gave in the morning for breakfast was made from the same water where the eggs were boiled. On different occasions I found pieces of shells inside the infusion, and it was very unpleasant, ”she detailed.
Regarding the drugs, Salazar Deulofeo said that, despite the fact that there are few “or almost none”, many times they did not allow those carried by the relatives of the inmates to pass.
“There are no medicines for pain or hemorrhoids and almost all the prisoners suffer from this due to poor nutrition; The worst thing is that when a prisoner claims or makes a complaint, they immediately mistreat him or threaten to take away his benefits, ”he assured.
Two years without a “flag”
Tony Alberto Salazar Deulofeo’s two years in prison were hard not only for him but also for his family. According to his wife, Evis Yuneiky García Coto, at that time it was very difficult to get the minimum necessary to take him on monthly visits.
“The visits were quite short because there was no budget, they were very poor in the sense that the food was the minimum, any nonsense that one could get because the help failed a lot or arrived very late; on some occasions I stopped visiting him because I didn’t have anything to take him with me,” lamented the also MONR activist.
Salazar Deulofeo never enjoyed the benefit of the conjugal ward during the entire time he was confined.
“We never went to a pavilion (…). It was hard for both of them, but more so for him who was imprisoned between four walls, ”she pointed out.
Salazar Deulofeo, a “gross farmer” who cannot read or write and who made a living as a pedicab driver, underwater fisherman and pig farmer before being jailed, will continue “go ahead, without fear, standing with his brothers”. he commented himself.
“Even if they set me up, I will overcome them, even if they put me in jail, even if they crush me, I will never give up,” said the 38-year-old opponent.
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