From Cuba: Gov’t Opposition leaders continue to being harrased…

This Press Release was just issued about the latest attack on Cuban Opposition leaders…

Members of the Democratic Party 30 of November "Frank País" subjected to infamous pogroms.

(HAVANA/CUBA/August 16/Puenteinfocubamiami.org) –
At least five members of the National Executive of the Democratic Party 30 of November "Frank País" suffered in front of their homes on Monday, which were organized by sympathizers of the Cuban regime, blocking off the the entrance to their homes and no one was allowed to leave or enter the house, declared Anaika Paneca Román in a telephone interview with the Information Bridge Cuba Miami.

Paneca Roman who is Vice President of Democratic Party 30 of November "Frank País", denounced that at dawn of the day in question a group of strangers congregated in front of her house launching a *pogrom, shouting that she was a worm at the service of the empire, they were threatening her and blocked off the entrance to her home and did not allow anyone to leave or enter the house. A few members of her party fooled the mob and managed to enter the house and accompanied her throughout the terrible ordeal that lasted until late hours of the night. A young man arrived in a show of solidarity and was brutally beaten by the mob and arrested by the political police.

Anaika Paneca Roman is the wife of the opponent Frank García Llerena, a member of the executive of the P-D-30N until last year when he was forced to take to the sea due to political persecution but was intercepted at sea, and is presently in a prison in the Bahamas waiting for a political asylum visa from a third country to avoid repatriation. Anaika and Frank have a 7 year old daughter who cried inconsolably all through the infamous pogrom for she is a traumatized little girl has endured years of unjust harassments, abuses and the imprisonment of her parents, as a result she is undergoing psychological treatment.

According to Anaika, parallel pogroms were being held in front of the homes of Raiza Martinez Llerena, Reinel Sánchez Calvo, Antonio Batista, Idalmis Balbuena Santos and Mirta Villanueva Almeida, all members of the National Executive of the Democratic Party 30 of November "Frank País".

Subsequently, Information Bridge Cuba-Miami was able to make telephone contact with Mirta Villanueva Almeida, Secretary of the Feminine Front of Democratic Party 30 of November "Frank País", and mother of Camilo Perez Villanueva – a founding member of the Political Presidio Pedro Luis Boitel who recently was forced to leave the Island due to political persecution- and she pointed out that a pogrom was being held in front of her house , there were around forty people, all of them older men and women, blocking her front door, shouting offensive words and threatening her. They were blocking her front door and did not allow any one to entered or leave the house.

Mirtha recognized several of her neighbors amongst the harassing mob, she felt such indignation because her neighbors did not take into consideration that she is a sick 70 year old woman and that living with her is her pregnant granddaughter and two small children, one is 3 and the other 13 who were crying in terror, so she opened the front door, shouting at them said that no one was going intimidate her and proceeded to hang the Cuban Flag upside down outside her front door in protest, then she went back inside her home.

Lastly, Villanueva informed us that they had to abort a meeting of the Democratic Party 30 of November "Frank País" programmed for that day in her home with the purpose of officially presenting the newly elected National Executive Directive of the above mentioned party.

*Pogrom, is a Russian term for government officially organized mobs, to persecute, psychologically harass and physically abuse minority political opponents in the streets and in their homes.

Reporting from Havana for the Information Bridge Cuba Miami Anaika Paneca Román, vice president of the Democratic Party 30 of November "Frank País", and Mirta Villanueva Almeida, secretary of the Feminine Front of the party in question. Given on the 15th day of August of 2005.