HAVANA, Cuba.- About five young people have been 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.
CubaNet He was also in contact with Alejandro Morales Pereira, who is currently surrounded by State Security officers and special troops, known as Black Wasps.
In a video that he sent to CubaNetMorales recorded the moment when the officers showed up at his home and tried to arrest him.
“They took my phone away. They threatened to kill me, and they also threatened my mother. They said they were going to put us in bags and drag us down the hall, that they were going to beat me. They laughed as they said it. Supposedly, they went to look for an arrest warrant to intervene here in the house because I told them that they couldn’t enter that way. However, they kicked the blinds, they broke a mirror. But I’m not afraid. Freedom for political prisoners, freedom for Cuba,” he exclaimed.
In the clip you can see Diosmany Aramís Castellano Moreno, a lieutenant colonel of the Ministry of the Interior, who is in charge of the arrests in the town, according to sources consulted by CubaNet.
Castellano Moreno is reported by the database of Cuban repressors and has been “accused of forced confessions, imprisonment through rigged processes, alteration of documents, arbitrary detentions and threats.”
This Thursday night, hundreds of residents of Encrucijada took to the streets and they protested to the rhythm of pots and pans in front of the headquarters of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power after a blackout of more than 72 uninterrupted hours. The protest, which forced local authorities to appear before the protesters, ended with the restoration of power supply.
