The complainant, a resident of Baracoa, claims that a MININT delegate arrested, insulted and threatened his two brothers, in addition to detaining minors, after selectively identifying several protesters.
MADRID, Spain.- Maikel Lores Matos from Baracoa denounced CubaNet that his brothers, Alberto and Geovanis Lores Matos, were detained, intimidated and threatened by authorities of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) after participating in the protests that took place this week in different neighborhoods of Baracoa, motivated by the prolonged water crisis that exceeds three months and the long blackouts that affect the city.
According to their testimony, several neighborhoods “took to the streets” to demand the restoration of basic services, after months of carrying water from the river and receiving barely an hour of electricity at some times of the day. He points out that his brothers went to the demonstration because they were “obstinate” about the situation. During the protest, dozens of residents chanted slogans demanding electricity and water, and expressed their disagreement with the actions of a local MININT delegate.
Lores Matos, a resident of the Van Van neighborhood, reported that one of his brothers shouted slogans criticizing the delegate, whom they blame for constant pressure against them. He states that this official repeatedly accuses them and maintains an attitude “clinging” to making them stop, which generated greater tension at the time of the protest.
The next day the MININT delegate summoned the two brothers and received them with insults, provocations and insinuations of physical force. Lores Matos assures that the official told them that he could imprison them “because he felt like it” and that he even incited them to fight, stating that he “was one of the hot ones.” He locked one of the brothers in the office and then took the other away, repeating insults and threats.
The complainant also states that, when he intervened to find out what was happening, the authorities tried to stop him, ordering him to speak “quietly” and warning him that they could arrest him. Furthermore, he maintains that several officers tried to struggle and that at least two or three police officers were ready to physically attack his brother after he questioned the delegate’s authority.
Lores Matos adds that one of the brothers left the office with an injured head, in the midst of a dynamic that he describes as humiliating and loaded with psychological pressures. Both were eventually released, but under the explicit threat that if they participated in protests again they would be imprisoned.
He also reported that because of the protest the authorities detained not only his brothers, but also two underage girls who had joined the demonstration. He assures that, despite the fact that “there were more than 500 people on the street,” the law enforcement forces selected some to arrest “for expressing themselves.”
The testimony describes an atmosphere of growing frustration in Baracoa, where the population simultaneously faces prolonged power outages, water shortages and a police deployment that, according to the complainants, responds with arrests and threats to those who demand improvements in basic services.
