IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 8 ENGLISH | Page 83

Just two days before Obama's arrival, I
travelled to Havana. From that moment
until now, I have not been able to sit
down to write even a single note. Due to
the visit of the US president, much press
in the free world has been interested in
learning about the Cuban reality, the
political prisoners, the repression against
the Ladies in White, and other peaceful
human rights activists. The Castro regime has increased repression before,
during, and after the visit, being frightened by the rising of popular discontent
and public protests. This situation keeps
on affecting us and keeping us busy. I
had to pay attention to dozens of activists who were visiting me at our headquarters in Havana. I cannot always stay
in our capital city and other provinces;
very often the political police apprehend
me and forcibly take me back to my
hometown. On Friday 25th, I returned to
Santiago de Cuba, where dozens of
members, collaborators and supporters
of our organization were anxiously
waiting for me. They wanted to know
how our meeting with the charismatic
president of the most admired nation by
our people had developed. I went out on
Saturday, early in the morning, with
dozens of UNPACU activists to demand
freedom for the political prisoners and
respect for the human rights. More than
hundred fifty of us were arrested. Some
people mistakenly believe that the repression increases with the new US
policy toward the Castro's regime, but it
is not true. Repression increases due to
the growth of the people discontent and
the pro-democracy activism. Neither

Obama´s policy nor anyone else outside
Cuba can put an end to the repression by
the dictatorship, except through a military invasion. And the latter is not something that a decent person wants. Only
the people of Cuba can wipe out the
tyranny, but the US president can help us
in our struggle with his visit and his
policies. There is so little left to say
about the visit; much has been said
already. Listening to the point of views
of many compatriots and also considering the worldwide impact and the moment that our country is living, I would
summarize this visit as the most important and impressive that we have ever
had in Cuba. For nearly a week, in a
country where almost all time and energies are devoted to the struggle for life
as immediate survival, many people are
looking for videos on the conversation
and subsequent meeting of Obama with
the popular humorous character Panfilo,
as well as on the meeting of the supportive President with thirteen members of
the peaceful internal opposition. Many
people remark the nervousness and
foolishness showed by Raúl Castro after
being questioned about political prisoners by a CNN reporter. Obama's popularity in Cuba, already very high, multiplied during his three days in our neighborly nation. In contrast, even the very
few genuine supporters of Raúl Castro
feel angry about how bad he looked. The
speech lived up to what millions of
Cubans are expecting. Cuban men and
women are convinced that the democratization of our country is the responsibility of Cubans, but they always appreci-

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