“You [los carceleros] They are more hungry than political prisoners, “denounced the mother of 11J Alexander Díaz Rodríguez.
Miami, United States. – The mother of the political prisoner Alexander Díaz Rodríguez, sick with cancer and sentenced to six years in prison for her participation in the protests of July 11, 2021, publicly denounced the theft of the food she was carrying for her child during a scheduled visit to the provincial prison of Pinar del Río (kilo 5½).
Moraima Rodríguez Batista directly held the prison authorities and accused the repressors of acting “hunger and bajaza.”
“The most outrageous thing that can happen to a family of a prisoner is what they did with the food of Alexander Díaz Rodríguez,” said Rodríguez Batista in A video posted on Facebook by the journalist Yaima Pardo.
According to his testimony, he was arrested in front of the penitentiary center just before the visit and, while remained retained, the officers consumed the food destined for their son, including “cookies, sweets, compotes and four chicken posts”.
The mother of the political prisoner reported that, when released, they returned the sack of “totally empty” food. “What they did is dirty,” he said. “But I have legs and I have a heart to continue fighting for the freedom of Alexander Díaz Rodríguez.”
The woman lashed out at the agents involved: “You are hungry, they showed me that you are hungry, they showed me that they have more need than the political prisoners themselves.” And he added: “They are murderers, they are starving. As you said that we were scum, you are you.”
Alexander Díaz Rodríguez, 45, suffers from throat and hepatitis B cancer, conditions that require medical care and a special diet. In June, As reported Cubanethe was abruptly transferred from the forced labor camp “25” to the prison of greater severity kilo 5½, without allowing him to collect his belongings or continue with his cancer medication.
Díaz Rodríguez himself, in telephone communication with this media, denounced that the transfer was made “quickly and unexpectedly”, and that since then he has not received a response to the complaints presented to the Head of Unit, Major Eliecer Díaz Rodríguez, and other prison officials.
The protester said he did not know the reasons for his regression to a regime of maximum rigor, since during his stay in the camp he did not incur indisciplines or was notified of any infraction. Last April, however, he had denounced forecast attempts by state security, who warned him that it would be returned to a more severe regime if he did not agree to collaborate with the repressive organs.
On this type of measures, the lawyer Alain Espinosa, of the Cubalex Organization, said that “the only competent authority to order a regression to the highest severity is the court that issued the judgment in the first instance, not the penitentiary authority or the security of the State.” In addition, he stressed that any decision of this type “should be formalized through a resolution against which the appeal would proceed.”
Espinosa also warned about the illegality of the transfer without belongings: “This flagrantly violates his right to property.” And he added that the Cuban penitentiary system “violates international standards”, such as the Mandela rules, which establish that inmates must remain close to their place of residence to avoid additional punishments.
Díaz Rodríguez, a native of Artemis and average technician in gastronomy, was arrested on July 11, 2021 after participating in the peaceful protests of that day. He was hit during his detention and subsequently convicted of the crimes of attack, contempt and public disorders, charges that independent organizations consider manufactured. During his confinement, his state of health has deteriorated significantly due to the lack of adequate treatment.
