In a message dated 4/2/04 9:56:04 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
[log in to unmask] writes:

> Some of us take the view that, until the United States rectifies the gross 
> violation of human rights which it is still inflicting on those 
incarcerated 
> without any access to justice in Guantanamo Bay (ironically, actually part 
of 
> the island of Cuba), any complaints by US citizens about violation of human 
> rights in the state of Cuba smack of hypocrisy. 

   While the Friends of Cuban Libraries is a worldwide organization concerned 
exclusively with freedom of expression in Cuba, no person of compassion can 
fail to be concerned about justice and the fair treatment of prisoners anywhere 
in the world, whether they are suspected of committing acts of terrorism or 
whether they have been sentenced to 20-year terms for the alleged crime of 
opening an uncensored library. In passing, it may be noteworthy that Cuba is one 
of the few nations in the world which refuses to allow the International Red 
Cross to inspect its prisons.

    Mr. Naylor seems to believe that condemnation of Cuba's unprecedented 
persecution of librarians is somehow an expression of nationalist prejudice, even 
though condemnation of this cruelty has been expressed by a large number of 
international organizations, such as Amnesty International, Reporters Without 
Borders, Human Rights Watch, Pax Christi, the EU, International PEN and the 
Friends of Cuban Libraries, not to mention prominent intellectuals representing a 
broad range of views, from Noam Chomsky to Vaclav Havel.

   Sadly, Mr. Naylor's views on this subject are all too clear from his 
refusal to speak out against the only government in the world which persecutes its 
citizens for the alleged crime of opening uncensored libraries.  As Abraham 
Lincoln is once reported to have said: "Whenever I hear anyone arguing for 
slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."

   To get an idea of what Mr. Naylor's silence is defending, printed below is 
information on the situation of an independent librarian's family in Pinar 
del Rio Province.  By the way, the city of Strasbourg has just announced a 
twinning program with the independent libraries of this province, as the Mayor of 
Paris has done with the independent libraries of Havana.

Sincerely,

The Friends of Cuban Libraries
(WWW.FRIENDSOFCUBANLIBRARIES.ORG)

Pinar del Río family besieged: mother, child require medical care

HAVANA, March 5, 2004 (Moisés L. Rodríguez / www.cubanet.org) - Radelis 
Rodríguez Soto, an employee of the León Cuervo Hospital in Pinar del Río, Cuba, has 
been forced to resign from her job due to a government campaign of 
harassment. Ms. Rodríguez Soto, 31 years old, is the daughter of Adela Soto, an 
independent journalist [and director of the José Angel Buesa Independent Library]. 
After the government published "The Dissidents," a book accusing Adela Soto of 
being a "notorious counterrevolutionary," workplace harassment of Radelis 
Rodríguez Soto intensified. She was eventually targeted for a "repudiation meeting" 
at the hospital where she was employed. [At repudiation meetings, long a 
feature of public life on the island, Orwellian assemblies are staged at which 
Cuban citizens are encouraged to denounce, threaten and shout insults at 
co-workers or neighbors singled out for condemnation.]

Other reprisals against the family, according to Adela Soto, have included 
the dumping of garbage in the doorway of their house and the throwing of eggs 
and other objects. The family home [also the location of the José Angel Buesa 
Library] is kept under almost constant surveillance by collaborators of the 
security forces, popularly known as "chivatos" [informers], and at other times by 
professional government agents.

On several occasions Ms. Rodríguez Soto has been visited in her home by the 
police, who issue warnings and threats about her mother's activities. About two 
months ago, reports Adela Soto, Radelis Rodríguez Soto was intercepted on the 
street by a State Security agent who goes by the name of "Mario." He told the 
young woman that "angry mobs could attack you and your daughter (the 6-year 
old grand-daughter of Adela Soto) because dissident activities will not be 
tolerated." The secret police agent urged Radelis Rodríguez Soto to persuade her 
mother to drop all contact with "tiny opposition groups" because he "couldn't 
conceive of a professional of her quality being mixed up with that kind of 
people."

As a result of these pressures, Radelis Rodríguez Soto is being treated for a 
worsening case of psoriasis caused by the emotional state she is in; she has 
also required psychiatric care.

The 6-year old daughter of Ms. Rodríguez Soto, Claudia Duarte Rodríguez, is 
also undergoing psychiatric treatment and suffers from a case of keratosis, 
which medical specialists attribute to the pressures being inflicted on her. When 
the child hears someone knocking on the door of the family home, she runs 
away crying and shouts "it is the police," explained her grandmother, Adela Soto.

Adela Soto ended her interview by noting that on February 25 someone used 
charcoal to write obscenities, directed at her daughter, on the door of the 
family home. "I don't know what they can achieve with these actions," she said.

[NOTE: Comments on the situation of Adela Soto's family may be sent to Mr. 
Eliades Acosta, a Cuban government official, at: ([log in to unmask]).