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Activist Tania Bruguera was arrested twice on Wed., 12/31/14, her
cell phone was placed out of service, and "her apartment guarded by plainclothes
police who refused to allow anyone through."...
12/31/14, "Activist arrests revive US-Cuba tensions," AFP, by Francisco Jara
"A Cuban crackdown on dissident activists caused a new rift with the
United States, the first diplomatic scuffle since this month's historic
announcement of a renewal in ties.
Authorities
arrested 51 dissidents Tuesday to stop them from attending an open mic
session convened for Cubans to speak out about their future, said
Elizardo Sanchez, the head of the officially banned Cuban Human Rights
and National Reconciliation Committee.
Most were later released, although around 10 to 12 were still being held into the evening, Sanchez said.
The
crackdown is the first since US President Barack Obama and Cuban
counterpart Raul Castro announced two weeks ago that the two countries
would revive diplomatic relations severed during the Cold War and move
to ease the five-decade US trade embargo.
In a stern reaction, Washington condemned Havana's "lack of respect" for human rights. "We
are deeply concerned about the latest reports of detentions and arrests
by Cuban authorities of peaceful civil society members and activists,"
the US State Department said in a statement. "We strongly condemn the Cuban government's continued harassment and
repeated use of arbitrary detention, at times with violence, to silence
critics, disrupt peaceful assembly and freedom (of) expression, and
intimidate citizens."
The arrests came after
Cuban performance artist Tania Bruguera invited her compatriots to share
their dreams for the island's future at a "participatory performance"
in Revolution Square, an iconic plaza in front of Cuba's government
headquarters.
Bruguera was among those released by the end of
Wednesday, after being held twice times during the day, including when
she tried to go to Havana's main seaside avenue, the Malecon, to hold a
press conference with other activists.
An AFP correspondent said
that just as she arrived, two plainclothes police stopped her, spoke
briefly with her and then bundled her off in their car.
"They're taking me away," she said before entering the car earlier Wednesday.
Cuban authorities have not confirmed any of the arrests. State media have so far not reported on the subject.
Bruguera,
46, is known for her politically provocative work. She trained in Cuba
and the United States and splits her time between those countries and
France.
In 2009, she held a similar event at the Havana Biennial
Art Exhibition, offering museum-goers an open mic to express their views
of the Castro government.
About 20 activists and numerous foreign correspondents turned up for Tuesday's open mic event, but Bruguera never arrived.
Her
cell phone was out of service and her apartment guarded by plainclothes
police who refused to allow anyone through, AFP correspondents said.
The
State Department said the US would "continue to press the Cuban
government to uphold its international obligations and to respect the
rights of Cubans to peacefully assemble and express their ideas and
opinions" as part of the process to restore ties.
The crackdown
will likely fuel criticism of the US-Cuban rapprochement from those who
oppose it in the Cuban exile community and in Congress.
Obama wants Congressional cooperation in lifting the 54-year-old embargo.
But
several lawmakers, led by Senator Marco Rubio, who is Cuban-American,
have dismissed the change in Cuba policy as appeasing a dictator.
The
first high-level meeting on restoring ties is scheduled for late
January in Havana. The US assistant secretary of state for Western
hemisphere affairs, Roberta Jacobson, has confirmed she will attend."
.
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