Antonio Rodiles Arrives in Miami After Being Unable to Leave Cuba for 8 Months

Havana/The director of the alternative project Estado de SATS, Antonio Rodiles, arrived in Miami this Monday after 8 months during which the Government prevented him from leaving the island. Hours earlier he had learned that the authorities would finally allow him to renew his passport, along with the leader of the Ladies in White, Berta Solar, and Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, known as Antúnez. The three traveled to the United States to attend a meeting with Cuban exiles.

“We came to talk with friends, with the exiled, to try to create the greatest possible solidarity at this time. I believe there is a lot of concern for the reality we are living in and we have to speak with everyone and coordinate with each other inside and outside the country,” Rodiles told MartiNoticias upon his arrival in Miami.

The opponent, who has been unable to leave Cuba for months, has experienced acts of repudiation and episodes of violence that required him to have emergency surgery after suffering a fracture of the nasal septum and a perforated ear drum in an act of violence.

“There has been a great increase in repression and especially in the violence,” he stated in front of the cameras. A statement that was affirmed by Antúnez. “It’s noteworthy that around the corner from the new US embassy in Cuba they are savagely repressing the Ladies in White movement and the opposition. They are emboldened, bringing in mobs on buses, trucks full of military repressors, which shows they have a radical and open opposition to us.”

Berta Soler said that the group does not oppose negotiations between the United States and Cuba but they want them to be “conditioned” on decreasing the repression against those who peacefully defend human rights.

Antunez added that their trip to Miami comes at a time when Cuba’s destiny is in play “with Kerry’s visit to Havana, the preparations for the Pope’s visit, and the regime trying to manage its fraud change.” According to Rodiles, there is no such change, given nothing has changed with regards to human rights, nor are there any changes economically.

The activists will return to Cuba before John Kerry visits the island on Friday, August 14.