Robert Kent writes: “Worldwide alarm is increasing with regard to a wave of repression being
unleashed against Cuba’s dissidents and human rights activists, including
arrests of librarians, raids on twenty-two libraries, and the seizure of
their book collections and circulation records. Ten independent librarians
tried on vague charges of “undermining Cuba’s national sovereignty” have been
sentenced to a total of 196 years in prison. During one-day trials of the
arrested dissidents four independent librarians testified for the
prosecution, revealing themselves to be undercover agents of the State
Security police. Details are being posted on the website of the Friends of
Cuban Libraries.
Robert Kent writes: “Worldwide alarm is increasing with regard to a wave of repression being
unleashed against Cuba’s dissidents and human rights activists, including
arrests of librarians, raids on twenty-two libraries, and the seizure of
their book collections and circulation records. Ten independent librarians
tried on vague charges of “undermining Cuba’s national sovereignty” have been
sentenced to a total of 196 years in prison. During one-day trials of the
arrested dissidents four independent librarians testified for the
prosecution, revealing themselves to be undercover agents of the State
Security police. Details are being posted on the website of the Friends of
Cuban Libraries.
In another sign of growing international pressure, in a speech on April 25
President Fidel Castro made his first public reference to Cuba’s independent
librarians while denouncing them, along with other dissidents, as traitors
who have conspired with U.S. diplomats to undermine Cuba’s national
sovereignty.
Noam Chomsky, Cornel West and Ariel Dorfman are among the prominent
intellectuals who have signed an open letter protesting the mass arrests of
Cuban dissidents. Earlier signers of similar petitions include Gunter Grass,
Mario Vargas Llosa, Jon Juaristi, the former director of the National Library
of Spain, and Charles Faulhaber of the Bancroft Library at the University of
California at Berkeley. ”
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