MIAMI, United States.- Ana Rosa Valdés is a Cuban mother who decided to break her silence in the face of the unfair sentence of 10 years in prison imposed on her son, Carlos Michelena Valdés, for filming the July 12, 2021 protest in La Güinera, Orange Creek.
Valdés denounced this Tuesday in an interview with CubaNet that he spent months in silence waiting for a fair sentence, “but there is no justice in this country,” which is why “I decided to raise my voice.”
“I waited and gave time to the process my son was going through, but the appeal ended in 10 years in prison, and I do not agree with the sanction imposed at this time,” he said.
Carlos Michelena Valdés was sentenced, his mother said, because on July 12 he was on a corner in the La Güinera neighborhood filming the protest. “He didn’t yell, he didn’t throw a stone, he wasn’t at the demonstration, he was just filming. At trial they told him that he was close to one of the ringleaders, as if exhorting people to join him”,
According to Ana Rosa, the youth of La Güinera that day were asking for freedom and a change of regime. “The situation at that time was very critical, and it is, but they turned off their voices.”
Ana Rosa assures that she has been working since she was of working age, and has not missed any government call, marches, parades, volunteer work, she has participated in everything, “because she believed in the revolution. I already do not believe”.
The woman denounces over and over again that her son’s sentence seems unfair, and that of so many people who came out to say what they thought. “All people have the right to raise their voice, that is not a crime,” she laments.
“I spent all these months waiting for a fair sanction, but there was none for my son, that is why I am willing to go to the end of this story, because there is no justice in this country,” she stressed.
Carlos Michelena Valdés, 33, the father of a little girl, shows a lot of strength “in front of me,” said his mother, “but the procession is something that is carried inside.”
Ana Rosa Valdés also denounced that the young man is being threatened, “they take him down, I imagine that for an office, to ask him if he is the leader, if they are going to stand up, they have even told him that they are going to arrest me and take me to jail.” , and that they are going to release him to another prison. I don’t understand why, I’m just demanding his release.”
Receive information from CubaNet on your cell phone through WhatsApp. Send us a message with the word “CUBA” on the phone +1 (786) 316-2072, You can also subscribe to our electronic newsletter by giving click here.
