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| SOS Letter to
National and International Public Opinion I, Juan Carlos González Leiva, blind lawyer and president of the Cuban Foundation for Human Rights (FCDH) in prison, ACCUSE CUBAN STATE SECURITY OF REPEATED ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS. On Friday, January 3rd at three in the afternoon I awoke from my sleep and caught unaware Joel Prado de La Torre Rufo, my cellmate, as he was rubbing a piece of wood in front of my fan, forcing the air full of debris towards my nose and mouth. When he realized I was awake, he ran out of the cell towards the patio. Of this I informed my family during their visit on Tuesday, January 7th. Wood particles are still found in my bed. For approximately a month Joel Prado de La Torre burned different substances in the bathroom and near my bed. He waited until I fell asleep, filling the room with smoke and a penetrating strange odor. State Security had told my mother that my cellmate was a pastor who was ill. Neither of these are true. State Security took him away the afternoon of Wednesday, January 4th and Officer Urgellés informed me another prisoner would take his place but that this new cellmate would not be working for State Security. On Wednesday, January 4th and 5th , Officer Adí poured a substance in the bathroom he said was a deodorizer. Never, during the time I have been confined in this place for ten months, has a deodorizer been used. Please take note of the following important information: Approximately at one in the morning on Monday January 13th , I was awake and felt an officer approach me, stop, and take my papers. He would take a minute between each page. I prayed to God and he showed me I had to prevent him from continuing. Ten minutes later I got up abruptly and as the officer started to run I screamed: " Who's there?" " Who's there?" as officer Melquiades answered: "It's me", I asked him what he was doing in the cell. He reflected for a moment and asked me how I was, telling me he was just approaching me as I got up. When he left I touched my papers, feeling a dust which caused a stinging sensation on my cheeks and my nose began to itch. For all previously said I make Cuban State Security responsible for an assassination attempt against my life and of anything else that might happen to me as long as I'm in prison. It is my belief that they are trying to induce a sickness in my organism, specifically through the respiratory system, and release me so that my death occurs at home, result of a natural disease. Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva Information obtained via telephone from Cuba. Coalition of Cuban-American Women/LAIDA CARRO Email: Joseito76@aol.com Back to Articles |