Cuba Detains at Least Three Before Protest, Dissidents and Relatives Say

[uhnope]

Source: Wall Street Journal

HAVANA—Cuban dissidents said Tuesday that police had arrested at least three members of the island’s political opposition hours before the first major test of Cuba’s tolerance for dissent since this month’s declaration of U.S.-Cuban detente.

Expatriate artist Tania Bruguera returned to Cuba on Friday after announcing plans to set up an open microphone for any member of the public Tuesday afternoon on the Plaza of the Revolution, the symbolic heart of Cuban political power.

Hours before the planned performance, police arrested at least three well-known dissidents and calls stopped going through to Ms. Bruguera’s cellphone. Her supporters said they didn’t know where she was and police prevented a reporter from approaching the door of her Havana apartment.

“I’ve been arrested,” dissident Antonio Rodiles told the Associated Press by telephone, saying police were taking him away around 12:30 p.m. The wife of Eliecer Avila, the 29-year-old head of moderate opposition group “Somos Mas,” said he had also been arrested along with Reinaldo Escobar, husband of blogger Yoani Sánchez.

Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/cuba-detains-at-least-three-before-protest-dissidents-and-relatives-say-1419978698

[still_one]

1. Why do I suspect there are other interests involved not wanting a normalization of relations?

Was there really an expectation that suddenly Cuba was going to become the bastion of democracy?

I didn't recall any such expectations when relations with China were normalized.

[carla]

2. Excellent point.

This is a provocation, likely another USAID plot to discredit PBO and the Cuban government. Bruguera is an expatriate, living in Miami and agitating for undemocratic changes on behalf of the powerful interests that have tried to destroy Cuba for more than 50 years. Pure provocation. And since when can a Cuban-American just show up in a country, any country, and set up a microphone in public to support dissenting opinions/counter-revolution? Even in the US, such would likely require a permit for use of amplifier in public. Ask any street-artist. My tears are absent for these tools of neo-colonialism. PS, at local levels, Cubans have more democracy than almost any other nation...check the number of candidates proposed in elections. Considerably more than 2, despite the country being "a communist dictatorship".

[hack89]

3. So why can't Cubans have democracy at the national level?

With true opposition parties and candidates that have an actual opportunity to run against Raul Castro and win?

[still_one]

4. Whether Cuba has or doesn't have democracy at the national level wasn't my point. My point was that

where was the expectation that the U.S. opening relations with them would suddenly make it so?

From my observation there was none. It was primarily an opening to have relations with a country which we haven't had formal relations with for over 50 years. It was a failed policy.

[hack89]

6. I agree that lifting the embargo will bring freedom to Cuba

The pent up demand in Cuba is too great and the government will have a hard time meeting those demands without political liberalization.

[still_one]

7. agreed, especially the potential for the eventual political liberalization in Cuba

[Bacchus4.0]

8. The diplomatic reproachment apparently isn't tied to any lifting of repression

Preventative arrests for a few people who were going to speak into a microphone. Unbelievable.

[Rhinodawg]

9. I'd be careful.

I brought that up and I got reamed for daring to bring up political prisoners.

[Bacchus4.0]

10. Some slow evolving has occurred but the government still doesn't tolerate criticism

or even the potential for criticism since these were preemptive arrests.

[ripcord]

21. I think you are a true optomist

Dictators don't change their spots.

[Rhinodawg]

5. WTF did I tell you.

I brought up AI and HRW with regard to Cuba the day it was announced.

Free the Cuban Political Prisoners.

[Mika]

11. Maybe the US should free its political prisoners before demanding that others do so.

Pre-emptive arrests are routine in the USA. Occupy and Ferguson are a couple of the most recent, but, here's one from the "home town" of the rabid professional Cuban exiles...

The Miami Model

{bold mine}

The Miami model is a term used by political activists to describe the tactics employed by law enforcement agencies during demonstrations relating to the negotiations for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) trade agreement. The meeting related protests took place in Miami, Florida in November 2003. The Miami Model is also the title of a documentary film, produced by Indymedia, about the FTAA, the police action in Miami, and political organizing led by people of color in the Miami area.
This term refers to the distinctive features of crowd control technique used in Miami, which included large scale pre-emptive arrests, heavily armed sometimes unidentifiable law enforcement, the collection of intelligence from protesters, and the "embedding" of corporate media with the police.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-miami-model/

[Rhinodawg]

12. Allow me to quote FiveGoodMen...

Americans have always been such evil fucks

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6007399

[Bacchus4.0]

13. I don't recall any Ferguson protester being arrested prior to showing up for the protests but keep

touting that Cuba Model. It ain't gonna be around much longer.

[Mika]

14. Actually, the Cuba model is far less violent and intrusive than the US model.

Funny how Cuban cops don't carry weapons, nor tazers. They don't look like storm troopers. Don't wear bullet proof vests. They don't arrest and beat massive numbers.
The exact opposite is what happens on a regular basis in the USA.

Here's a picture of "Castro's brutal thugs" removing the Ladies in White who refused to move from a sit-down protest in the middle of Revolution Plaza they had no permit for ...



They were loaded on a bus ... and given a ride home, not to jail.

[hr]

Meanwhile, in freedom loving Miami ...







... criticizing the gov't isn't appreciated.

[Bacchus4.0]

15. Yeah, so what is the point of arresting people before they show up at an event

does it help keep crime rates low?

[Judi Lynn]

17. You apparently haven't stirred yourself to follow how police surveillance of dissidents is done

in the very country where you do your best trolling.

The rest of us are well acquainted with police surveillance of activists long in advance to events where the cops expect protests, and pre-emptive arrests made for a variety of excuses.

It's been going on a very long time, as WE know.

[Mika]

19. "crowd control technique used in Miami, which included large scale pre-emptive arrests"

What is it about the US's "large scale pre-emptive arrests" that you don't get?

[hr]

You must think that Cubans are more important than Americans.
Why don't you move there?

[Judi Lynn]

16. Ah, Miami's FTAA event, starring their fun-loving police chief, John Timoney!

John Timoney, America�s Worst Cop

He has spent 138 days on the road in just a few years on the job. Who�s minding the Miami Police Department?

By Tamara Lush Thursday, Sep 20 2007

~ snip ~

The defining event of Timoney's tenure, the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) summit, came to Miami November 20. Police were on guard because of the massive riots that had taken place in Seattle during a 1999 World Trade Organization meeting and demonstrations during the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, when Timoney was police commissioner there. Hundreds of people were arrested at both. "Timoney's strategy during the RNC was to arrest as many people as possible, look good in front of the TV cameras, and deal with the Constitution later," commented Kris Hermes, spokesman for a group that helped defend many of the demonstrators.

From FTAA's start, Timoney locked down the city's center. Then he dispatched 2500 officers in riot gear against about 12,000 protesters. The cops used rubber bullets, shields, batons, concussion grenades, and stun guns. The "rough start," Timoney would later explain, was needed because some demonstrators didn't have permits. Sixty people were taken into custody; many were beaten by cops. At one point, Timoney jumped off of his patrol bicycle and yelled at a protester: "Fuck you! You're bad!" Nineteen-year-old Edward Owaki of Connecticut was linking arms with other protesters on Biscayne Boulevard when police barreled into the crowd and pinned him to the ground. He suffered a severe head injury and was hospitalized for a week.

Free speech advocates were horrified. One editorial writer from the St. Petersburg Times said, "The show of force would have made a Latin American dictator blush."

Timoney responded with typical sensitivity. His officers "demonstrated a tremendous amount of restraint," he said.

~ snip ~
Fallout from the FTAA riots continued in 2004. Accountants totaled costs for security around $23.9 million. The American Civil Liberties Union received 150 complaints alleging police abuse and filed six lawsuits on behalf of protesters in federal court. (They are all still pending.) The city settled for $180,000 with an independent filmmaker named Carl Kessler after he was injured by a police beanbag fired into his face. And the Miami Civilian Investigative Panel issued a report criticizing cops for profiling and unlawfully searching protesters.

Yet the chief stood by his claim that his handling of the protests was a "success." And he was right — at least if you consider his frequent-flyer account. During at least half of the 26 trips Timoney took after the FTAA summit, he was called up to discuss what became known as "The Miami Model" of crowd control.

In April that year, the chief was embarrassed when a Philadelphia judge dismissed the case against "The Timoney Three," who had been arrested during the 2000 GOP convention after one had allegedly thrown a bicycle at the chief. It was the story he told to local media while chuckling that first day on the job. Called to testify, Timoney couldn't identify his attacker. Worse, a video showed the trio had cooperated with police before taking a beating.

More:
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2007-09-20/news/john-timoney-america-s-worst-cop/full/

[center]~ ~ ~[/center]
Police Trampled Civil Rights During 2003 Free Trade Protests in Florida, ACLU Charges

November 17, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: [e-mail]

MIAMI – The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida’s Greater Miami Chapter today filed three lawsuits charging that officers of the Miami, Miami-Dade and Broward police departments used excessive force to intimidate and unlawfully arrest innocent bystanders and protesters who were exercising their free speech rights during the November 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) ministerial meetings in downtown Miami.

The three lawsuits filed today – on the two-year anniversary of the FTAA summit – are on behalf of a former Miami New Times reporter, four labor union members and a college student from Massachusetts whose skull was fractured after police hit him in the head three times with a baton. All six ACLU plaintiffs were arrested on November 20, 2003, during marches that resulted in hundreds of arrests after police used unnecessary force to disperse crowds.

“The ‘Miami Model’ was a police tactic designed to intimidate political demonstrators, silence dissent, and criminalize protest against the government policies,” said ACLU Greater Miami Chapter President Terry Coble, referring to the City of Miami’s law enforcement strategy during the FTAA meetings. “If this type of police action is allowed to continue, our country will have lost one of our most basic rights, and we will be on the road to a totalitarian government.”

~ snip ~

Working under the overall command of Miami Police Chief John Timoney, officers from the City of Miami, Miami-Dade County and the Broward Sheriff’s Office made extensive plans to militarize the police force in an attempt to limit demonstrations. According to news reports, police officers from more than three dozen law enforcement agencies converged on downtown Miami to create an almost surreal backdrop that included armored vehicles on the ground and helicopters dotting the skyline above. The police marched in lines wearing full riot gear and wielding batons, tear gas, pepper spray and beanbag rifles to control the crowds of demonstrators.

~ snip ~

“The police used intimidation and fear to basically shut us up,” said Winter, who returned to Miami from Pittsburgh to participate in an ACLU news conference today. “When I asked them why they were arresting us, they replied that they were simply following orders and proceeded to handcuff me and force me face down into the grass. At that moment, it felt like I had no rights; they had complete power to suspend my rights for the sake of what they called ‘security,’ but in reality they were the ones causing all of the violence and problems.”

The second case, Owaki v. City of Miami, et al., involves the severe beating of college student Edward Owaki, of Amherst, Mass. Owaki, 19, joined other college students in a peaceful demonstration that was cut short when police officers decided to order everyone to flee the area near Northeast Third Street in downtown. The officers used tear gas, batons and shields to push the protesters toward Biscayne Boulevard. Owaki, who turned around to follow police orders to disperse, was then struck from behind three times with a police baton. He was beaten so severely that his skull was fractured, and he fell unconscious. Owaki, an Eagle Scout who had never before been in trouble with the law, was arrested for “disorderly conduct” and then transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital. He was given Tylenol and then taken to the Miami-Dade County Jail, where he spent the night. Owaki suffered from pain and vomiting and a nurse at the jail noted that he was dehydrated. Owaki was released from jail late the next day and his friends took him back to Jackson because he was disoriented and in severe pain. He was admitted to intensive care and spent nine days in the hospital while being treated for a skull fracture, cerebral contusions and seizures.

More:
https://www.aclu.org/free-speech/police-trampled-civil-rights-during-2003-free-trade-protests-florida-aclu-charges

[center]~ ~ ~[/center]
Text-book case for the Miami original first wave "exiles' to use to show Cuba how to do it up right, wasn't it? My god. Could not have been an uglier nightmare.

[Judi Lynn]

18. Miami did such a slam-bam job on the protesters of all ages, it set a standard! From Wikipedia:

Miami model


~ snip ~

The Miami model carries the distinctive features of crowd control techniques used in Miami, which included large scale pre-emptive arrests, heavily armed sometimes unidentifiable law enforcement, the collection of intelligence from protesters, and the "embedding" of corporate media with the police.[3] Additionally, areas that are to be the site of a major event are given large federal grants to purchase materials for security. Thus, police may be unfamiliar with the use of the new equipment they have been given and rural police brought in to the city may be somewhat unfamiliar with crowd control tactics in general. Protestors and activists allege some of the following[4] as further tactics belonging to the Miami model:

• Establishment of joint, unified, multi-agency command/control network.
  
• Mass purchase of surveillance equipment, riot gear and other supplies.
  
• Training of local law enforcement in "crowd control tactics" and less lethal weapons.
  
• Public relations, "information warfare", newspeak/spin:
  

  
  

  "terrorists/violent protesters coming" vs "well trained officers".
  

  "event meaningful target for terrorism."
  

  "police will protect the right to protest."
  

  "anarchists and criminal elements", dramatic Seattle WTO or London imagery.
  

  display of confiscated "weapons" prove malintent.
  

  "unpermitted protests can continue" due to police good will.
  

  independent media targeted, cameras, video confiscated.

  
  
• Pro-event/anti-demonstrator promotional tools developed/used in community.
  
• Reluctant officials, civic groups pressured to comply with plan by Secret Service/DHS.
  
• Locations strategically valuable to protesters reserved by law enforcement.
  
• Plans to secure public buildings and strategic private businesses complete.
  
• Anti-protest ordinances and other legal hurdles to prevent lawful assembly begin.
  
• State of Emergency declared or Executive Order signed to allow military policing.
  
• Surveillance and disruption of protest organizers begins.
  
• Attempts to divide protest groups and organizers begins in media and meetings.
  
• Court system tied up: regular business delayed during protest; assist mass arrests.
  
• Mass detention facilities identified and prepped for use.
  
• Civic groups and clubs employed to support law enforcement activities.
  
• March and event permits denied or delayed; delay tactics.
  
• Police/military collaborate with media, i.e. embedded reporters, etc.
  
• Street level surveillance increases on organizers and demonstrators.
  
• Public training drills and mass show of force.
  
• Sporadic harassment, detention and arrest of demonstrators traveling in area.
  
• Disruption of organizing/assembly/housing/media spaces. Possible preemptive arrest.
  
• Command Center operational; large undercover teams begin reporting
  
• Militarized "hard zone" and limited access "soft zone" created with fences, barricades.
  
• Area wide surveillance video, including 3-D video systems operational.
  
• Field forces (riot police, bike police, checkpoints, etc.) put into place.
  
• Day of protest: assembly blocked, obstructed, redirected.
  
• Use of less-lethal weapons - projectiles, chemical weapons, electric weapons, sound devices etc.
  
• Streets cleared using force; protesters pursued; more mass arrest.
  
• Jail solidarity events allowed to protest for few hours, then cleared.

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_model

Quite the multi-faceted plan to control dissent, isn't it? A total show of force.

[Mika]

20. If Cuba did ANYTHING close to what happened here, the US would INCREASE sanctions on Cuba.

The utter hypocrisy of the US gov't and the Cubaphobes is an astounding double-standard.

?t=25s

[Judi Lynn]

22. Such short memories among the right-wingers!

Maybe they think anyone protesting in the US deserves what he or she gets, during the administrations of right-wing presidents!

[center]





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[font size=6]ETC.[/font]

Thank you for the video, Mika.