Holguin Cuba

Cities: Capital--Havana (pop. 2 million). Other major cities--Santiago de Cuba, Camaguey, Santa Clara, Holguin, Guantanamo, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Pinar del Rio. ... [Read More]

Cuba

In June the IAPA called on the Government to provide medical treatment to two independent journalists serving prison sentences. Joel de Jesus Diaz, in prison in Ciego de Avila, was suffering from hepatitis and Manuel Antonio Gonzalez Castellanos in Holguin was suffering from severe influenza and possibly tuberculosis. The IAPA also called for the release of independent journalists Victor Rolando Arroyo and Bernardo Arevalo Pardon, both of whom are serving prison sentences (see Section 1.c.). ... [Read More]

The Dream Deferred: Fear and Freedom in Fidel’s Cuba

--Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva, Letter from Prison, Holguin, Cuba, May 27, 2003 ... [Read More]

Vol 37 No 2, April - June 1999 Page 17

Finding the students’ likes and dislikes concerning EFL learning and applying new teaching techniques to improve the command of language use have been major goals. Surveys conducted with learners and teachers at the School of Nursing in Holguin have focused on finding out why students reject learning foreign languages. The results showed that most of the second- and third-year students in the nursing career did not like studying English because they did not find any relation between English and their own careers. They did not think that English would be useful in their future jobs; they felt that they spent too much time learning boring, unpleasant, and difficult things. ... [Read More]

Cuba

The independent press agency Agencia de Prensa Libre Oriental (APLO) reported that on March 29, state security officials detained independent journalist Juan Carlos Garcell in Sagua de Tanamo and transported him to a house on the outskirts of Holguin where he was questioned about his activities. Later in the afternoon, he was freed and had to find his way home. Garcell referred to this incident as "an act of kidnaping." ...

In March state security officials in Moa detained Juan Carlos Garcel of the APLO as he attended a civic demonstration. He then was driven to Holguin, 95 miles from Moa, and detained for 7 hours at a state security house where government officials interrogated him. He then was released and forced to hitchhike for 5 hours in order to return to his home. ... [Read More]

Human Rights in Cuba

Independent journalists are embattled and harassed. The Cuban Government has put some on trial. On August 3, independent journalist Reinaldo Alfaro Garcia was tried and sentenced to 3 years in prison for "disseminating false information contrary to international peace." Others who have been detained and/or tried in the fall and winter of 1998-99 are: Manuel Antonio Gonzalez Castellanos, a reporter for Cubanet, who is awaiting trial in Holguin on charges of "disrespect" and Mario Julio Viera Gonzalez, director of the independent press agency Cuba Verdad, awaiting trial for "slander." Other independent journalists serving prison terms include Bernardo Arevalo Padron, serving 6 years for "disrespect" and Juan Carlos Recio Martinez, sentenced to one year of "correctional work." ... [Read More]

Cuba

Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:a. Arbitrary and Unlawful Deprivation of Life There were no reports of politically motivated killings. On August 16, Juan Sanchez Picoto died in a psychiatric hospital in San Luis de Jagua, allegedly by suicide. According to family members, Sanchez Picoto had tried to emigrate nine times since 1998, and after the last attempt the authorities forcibly removed him from his home and placed him in a psychiatric unit for alcoholics at a Guantanamo psychiatric hospital. He was held in a ward for violent and mentally ill offenders, despite a doctor's diagnosis that he did not meet criteria for involuntary commitment. He was allegedly given shock therapy and assaulted by another detainee, resulting in a head injury. On August 15, he was transferred from the Guantanamo hospital to the San Luis de Jagua un ... [Read More]

Cuba

During the year, there were reports that prisoners died in jail due to lack of medical care (see Section 1.c.). b. DisappearanceThere were no reports of politically motivated disappearances. c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or PunishmentThe Constitution prohibits abusive treatment of detainees and prisoners; however, members of the security forces sometimes beat and otherwise abused human rights advocates, detainees, and prisoners. The Government took no steps to curb these abuses. There continued to be numerous reports of disproportionate police harassment of black youths (see Section 5).On January 22, police forced Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia and a colleague from a bus and beat them. Ferrer was a local leader of the Christian Liberation Movement and a Project ... [Read More]