Carlos Gonzalez Leiva, after he reported renewed harassment by Cuban security forces.
Gonzales Leiva, who is the president of the Cuban Foundation for Human Rights, said in a statement obtained by BosNewsLife that his home in the city of Ciego de Avila, 460 kilometers (287.5 miles) east of Havana, has been surrounded "by motorcycles and patrol cars of the Cuban State Security and National Police forces."
In addition "dozens of paramilitary mobs of a low sort, known as Rapid Response Brigades," are standing nearby, since last Friday, March 16, he said.
It was apparently difficult for him to leave his house to buy basic necessities. This week, when "I left my home to purchase groceries, I was prevented from doing so as I was physically intimidated by members of these mobs," Gonzales Leiva said. "This same situation took place once again at midday when I was saying goodbye to Taidy Emilia, the wife of prisoner of conscience Jose Antonio Mola Porro."
"DISORDELY CONDUCT"
Gonzales Leiva had been living previously under house arrest till March 2006, following his release from prison where he served two years on what human rights groups described as "trumped up charges" of "disorderly conduct, disrespect for authority, disobedience and resisting arrest."
The 42-year-old dissident nine others were arrested on March 4, 2002, after staging a protest at the Antonio Luaces Iraola provincial hospital, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) east of Havana, where independent journalist Jesus Alvarez Castillo was reportedly being treated for injuries from a confrontation with police.
Gonzales Leiva accused the Communist-led Cuban government of encouraging crowds to surround his house. "Maybe it’s because I was going to travel to [the capital] Havana or it’s because we published the Cuban Magazine Amanecer (Dawn). In any case, I hold the Cuban government responsible for this provocation and any consequences thereof," he added.
This was not the first time security forces apparently surrounded his home. Last year in January government supported crowds carried out what he called "psychological torture" to pressure him "by force to go into exile from Cuba" after his house arrest sentence ended.
NO ELECTRICITY
"They prevent me from leaving my house, and I am without food, drinking water, and electricity. We are suffocating from the heat," he said at the time. "Those surrounding my home pound on my windows and my doors, and they have placed loudspeakers outside with blaring music 24 hours a day that prevents us from sleeping or resting."
He estimated that up to 400 people "begin these vandalistic acts at dawn and continue until 11:00 at night. At that time, police and State Security agents surround my house. This is repeated daily to the rhythm of deafening music."
However Gonzales Leiva, a Baptist Christian, has said he found strength in his faith. "Jesus Christ is with us. He is accompanying us, and He gives us victory and peace. We are not going to lift a finger against anyone nor are we going to commit any crime," he stressed. "Whatever happens here is the responsibility of State Security, Cuban military officials, and the Cuban government."
The frail Cuban leader Fidel Castro has denied human rights abuses. He also denied the existence of "dissidents" saying they are "mercenaries of the United States" and against his revolution. At least dozens of pro-democracy activists, including Christians, remain in jail across the island.
