A WOMEN’S PRISON KNOWN AS BLACK MANTLE 
© 2001 ABIP

by Agustin Blazquez with the collaboration of Jaums Sutton

One of the accomplishments of the Castro Revolution that Cubans have been "enjoying" for 42 years is the out-of-proportion proliferation of detention centers, jails, labor and concentration camps throughout Cuba.

That is not symptomatic of Castro alone, but of the totalitarian communist system he forced upon the island. The book The Black Book of Communism exposes the extensive prison networks of all of these regimes. Written by six left-wing French intellectuals, it caused a sensation in Europe in 1997, but has been largely ignored by the American left and the U.S. media. This book documents the repression, terror and crimes of communism all over the world since 1917 with the staggering count of 94,360,000 people killed.

Here in America, Dr. Armando Lago is writing a book about the same subject, but concentrating on the island of Cuba. Its title The Human Cost of Social Revolutions: The Black Book of Cuba. This book-in-progress so far has documented 97,582 deaths due to Castro’s communist regime. As its European counterpart, this new book will likely be ignored by the American left and the U.S. media, or discredited, as is usually done with the facts of communism.

Being anti-Nazi is politically correct. But not, apparently, being anti-Communist - in spite of the overwhelming number of past crimes documented and the ones still going on in Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, China, and in Central and South America where the Castro-supported communist guerrillas are very much active.

There are plenty of well-liked and publicized books, films, television programs and museums for the victims of the Nazis. However, the victims of communism are disregarded. Go figure.

It is a matter of fact that all communist regimes declare war against their own people. That is the reason for the summary executions, the political assassinations, the disappearances, the physical and psychological tortures, the kangaroo trials, and the massive prison systems. And this takes us to Castro’s Cuba, which is not an exception among communist regimes.

In the area of El Watao, Havana, Castro built one of his infamous jails for women. This one is known as Black Mantle. Thousands of women have survived that jail while others have died.

María del Cármen Carro, an independent journalist inside Cuba, working for the underground Center of Information About Democracy, on March 5, 2001, told the story of Maritza Lugo Fernández.

Maritza is the President of the November 30 Frank País Democratic Party, outlawed by the Castro regime. She has been a political prisoner held in Black Mantle for her belief in democracy and human rights for the Cuban people.

In her plea to all people of goodwill in the world, Maritza denounces the Cuban government and its main repressive arm, State Security - the equivalent of Hitler’s S.S. – for the crimes committed against the women political prisoners in Black Mantle. She describes daily crimes, abuses and injustices against the people of Cuba in an effort to maintain a regime based on lies and deceptions.

She says that the massive detention of innocent people in Cuba for the single reason of disagreeing with Castro’s regime must stop. Citizens are thrown, without trial, into inhumane dungeons where they are physically and psychologically tortured. The women political prisoners in Black Mantle as well as in other prisons throughout the island are forced into the same dungeons with dangerous common criminals. The fact that the Castro regime does not allow international inspections of their jails must stop. It is time to stop denying the nightmare that has been going on for 42 years.

Maritza explains that the political prisoners are treated with extreme cruelty, subjected to strict surveillance and searches. The dungeons are filthy and unfit for human habitation, with spoiled water filtering from above. The laundry sinks are clogged and they are not given soap. Most of the inmates have only a few pieces of clothing to wear. Meanwhile, the prison authorities conduct daily inspections to check the cleanliness and the prisoners are punished if they do not pass.

She says that while Castro’s government – for propaganda purposes – sends doctors and medicines abroad, the medical attention that they receive in Black Mantle is extremely poor and rarely are medicines made available. Many women after completing their terms leave the prison very ill. Also the diet is very poor, consisting mostly of badly prepared meager rations of rice or macaroni and ground "meat" made of Soya.

Maritza makes the Castro regime responsible for the separation of millions of Cuban families living all over the world. Their separation is due to the political situation that forces them to flee in desperate and dangerous escapes.

In spite of the deceptive propaganda about culture and education for international consumption - that has been fooling so many foreigners throughout the years - she accuses the regime of keeping the Cuban people in complete ignorance about politics and democracy. In Castro’s Cuba, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is officially considered a subversive document. Its possession by a citizen means confinement in jail.

Maritza’s plea from her dungeon at Black Mantle prison is that the people who attend the next conference of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland, will consider the dire situation of the Cuban people. She firmly believes that if there is any justice left in the world, Castro’s regime should be sanctioned for its constant violation of human rights. As Castro is committing these crimes, he is, at the same time, laughing at his victims because the rest of the world looks the other way.

Hers is not an isolated case. About a million people have gone through Castro’s gulag and those who survive tell stories that are much the same. But after 42 years the world still is not listening, especially the American people, just 90 miles away from the most brutal and repressive regime in the history of the Americas. It is a frustrating shame that because the U.S. media, which has failed to report the facts to the American people, must take much of the blame for Castro being and staying in power.

For people who are well informed of what is going on inside Cuba, these last eight years of the corrupt Clinton administration meant a set-back for the suffering people of Cuba. It has been a wasted time. The policies of people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges have failed. Castro, as usual, has controlled and used them for his propaganda benefit.

The drive to lift the travel restrictions on Americans to enjoy what apartheid Cuba offers only to tourists is immoral. The drive by unscrupulous businessmen to lift the U.S. embargo to take advantage of the exploited Cuban workers is morally reprehensible.

A way to end the Castro regime and stop 42 years of suffering in Cuba is to expose the regime for what it is. International condemnation, like was done with South Africa, will finally set the Cuban people free. Black Mantle and the rest of Castro’s infamous gulag and his toll of deaths will then become part of the sorrowful history of communism.

© 2001 ABIP

Agustin Blazquez is a Washington-based documentary film producer and director, including the films "Covering Cuba," "Cuba: The Pearl of the Antilles" and "Covering Cuba 2: The Next Generation."

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