Full transcription of Press Conference held by Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque on 26 March 04.

(FBIS Translated Text) Good day to all of the international press correspondents, also to the Cuban press correspondents. I have summoned you to broach issues of general interest and to express Cuba's views regarding certain issues that have been the objects of an intense international press campaign. However, before I address the issue that has brought us here, I must inform you that scarcely a few hours ago we received a document that is of general interest, and a news report that I will disclose before starting. It is a document written in English and it is the text of the proposed resolution that the United States has prepared to be presented by some other country within the next few days, at the Human Rights Committee. The text was delivered yesterday (25 March) afternoon at the State Department to a select group of diplomats from countries that are members of the Human Rights Committee; not all of the countries, only a select group. The United States, at last, has unveiled the text that it has been working on in great secrecy, presenting it to certain countries yesterday afternoon. The document has accidentally fallen into our hands and we are going to distribute copies to you.

Now, I want to ask any country which over the next few days might present the document, to say whether or not it is true that this text in English (he shows the document) is the text prepared at the State Department; whether or not it is true that yesterday afternoon it was presented at the State Department to a group of countries, and whether or not it is true that the text is an attempt to once again raise the Cuban issue at the Human Rights Committee. I have summoned you because I believe the time has come for our country to present its point of view, and especially to tell you the truth with the objectivity and seriousness that characterize Cuba. This is an issue that has been exploited over and over again, that has been insisted upon over and over again with exaggerations, inaccuracies, lies, and false and outrageous fabrications regarding the prison conditions and medical treatment provided to the 75 mercenaries who were sentenced for working for the US Government on the implementation of the Helms-Burton Law and the blockade against Cuba, and for receiving money and guidance from that country's government. I will reveal information which I hope will shed light on this matter and bring out the truth about an issue that has been used as part of a campaign of lies to slander Cuba.

Regarding the general situation of the Cuban penitentiary system, some days ago an interesting round table was held during which this issue was broadly debated. By the way -- to my surprise -- this event did not receive international coverage. I was surprised that over the past three days no press source mentioned what was discussed there. It is truly noteworthy that there was not the slightest interest in the explanation given by the Cuban penitentiary system's chief of medical services on how the system is organized, including such information as that in Cuba there is one doctor for every 200 inmates in the penitentiary system, a really impressive fact, quite similar to the system available to Cuba's entire population; or information on what is being done in the area of education, with regard to the penitentiary population's access to knowledge. I am truly surprised and astonished to see the lack of interest in this issue, because tons of words have been published over the past few months about Cuba's jails and there has not been a single reference to an issue that has raised so much interest in Cuba. The Cuban population was truly very interested; we have received a great deal of information from the general public and here at the Foreign Ministry, also, we have all commented, we all considered the information truly humane, of an impressively humanistic design. Nevertheless, not a single word has been said, it is as if it never happened. I hope that what I am going to present here today will happen and that the information I will disclose will be revealed.

First, I must inform you of the background of this entire process, which began after Cuba's response last year, a response that Cuba was forced to give because it had no other alternative. I chose to select the points of view of certain US Government representatives, members of that country's power circles, which I believe are more illustrative than whatever I could say about Cuba's experience of the past year and a half. Here we have, for example (an image is projected), the governor of Florida, the president's brother, Jeb Bush, speaking on 11 April 2003, almost a year ago: "Following the success of the war in Iraq, the United States must turn its attention to the neighborhood and exert pressure on the international community so that the Cuban regime will be unable to continue." Exert pressure, turn its attention to the neighborhood...

Secretary of State Colin Powell said on 4 May: "It is not appropriate to consider, at this time, the use of military force against Cuba." At this time...

We must remember that Mr. Powell went before the (UN) Security Council and presented the evidence -- quote, unquote -- that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction; that Iraq was developing nuclear weapons with the intention of launching them against other countries, also chemical and biological weapons.

Therefore, "at this time" is not a phrase to which we should attach too much credibility. That was on 4 May. On 10 October President Bush, in an electoral show (previous word published in English) staged at the White House with terrorist elements, members of Cuba's ultra-rightwing from Miami -- the worst of Miami's ultra-radical fauna -- said these words: "The Cuban regime will not change by its own initiative, but Cuba must change." Cuba must change, the president of the United States said on 10 October, by force; it must do so even if it is not willing to do so. The gentleman down there (in reference to an image he is displaying), who looks Latin American but is not -- he is the grandson of a Mexican but he is North American -- Roger Noriega, who is the Assistant Secretary for Hemispheric Affairs at the State Department and is primarily responsible for the State Department's policy toward Latin America, said in December 2003: "We must be prepared to take decisive and prompt action." He said this after declaring that the United States was considering ways to hasten Fidel's departure from Cuba's political scenario, which led to the public appeal made by comrade Fidel, which to date has not been answered, as to whether this meant a political assassination, as to whether or not the ban signed by President Gerald Ford during the mid-seventies, which prohibited US officials and special services from participating in the murder of foreign leaders, was still in effect. The ban came after the Church Commission scandal, which revealed several cases in which foreign leaders had been assassinated by US Special Services, including several thwarted plans against the very life of comrade Fidel. Fidel appealed to him to say whether or not there had been a meeting in which then candidate George Bush had told several Cuban mafia representatives not to worry, that he knew how to resolve the problem.

After making these statements, Mr. Noriega said that when the time comes they must be prepared to take decisive and prompt action; that the "United States wants to be certain that the regime's cronies will not take control of the Cuban Government's security apparatus," and he announced that the commission -- for the so-called Transition in Cuba -- which allegedly will prepare the plan to subvert and topple the revolution and turn Cuba into a protectorate once again, would be in charge of, among other things, fulfilling that goal. That was in December.

Mr. Melquiades Martinez, who at that time was the Commission's co-chairman and housing secretary, said in response to questions from the press that the Pentagon -- in other words, the US Armed Forces -- were not officially participating in the Commission at that time in December. However, he said, "Do not rule out the possibility that the Defense Department might, at some point, become involved in this effort."

Why would the US Armed Forces have to be involved in the so-called transition in Cuba? These are questions that have not yet been answered and the appeals made by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro have not yet been answered. Mr. Noriega, once again on 6 January said -- and he was lying -- "that the United States was observing the actions of Cuban leader Fidel Castro in his latest adventures."

"The United States has information about Cuba's involvement in the destabilization of governments," a lie that has already been answered also by the leader of the Cuban revolution, who clearly pointed out that governments have fallen because of the implementation of the savage neoliberal model, the extortion of Latin America's economies by the model imposed by the US Government and the International Monetary Fund. In what appeared to be a rhetoric competition, Secretary Powell said on 8 January: "Cuba has been trying to do everything possible to destabilize parts of the region." Cuba does not have to do that, because what the United States does is enough for Latin America to be an erupting volcano. Mrs. Condolezza Rice said that "Cuba has continued stirring up difficulties in other parts of the region."

President Bush said again on 12 January -- worried because he is dropping in the polls, he feels insecure, he fears that he might not be reelected, and he is looking on with concern as his rival's candidacy grows stronger -- that "the transition in Cuba must be rapid" -- that is true, that is what they want -- "and peaceful" -- that is a lie! That part is not real." This is the ultimate proof of their stupidity and lack of scruples. A House representative, a senator-elect, made the following comment: "What is required in Cuba is Castro's assassination;" he publicly called for the assassination of the president of a United Nations member country, a neighbor of the United States. "I believe that should be done" -- said this gentleman -- "an assassination," and he publicly defended the idea of assassinating a country's head of state. Look at what Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a US congressman, has said: "since Castro so likes the tourists who provide him with dollars" -- listen to the dinosauric, ultra-conservative, reactionary language, listen to it -- "then we should send spies among them."

I would like him to explain to me whether or not Cuba has reasons to adopt the measures it may deem appropriate, within its ethics and its legislation, to preserve the country and defend its people from those within who collaborate with the implementation of that policy that is being openly announced and paid for by top US political figures. Therefore, that is the issue that is in question here, that is the background of all of this, and the framework that cannot be ignored. Cuba is a country that is defending its right to self-determination, Cuba is a country that is defending its right to exist as an independent nation, and Cuba has the right to implement its laws. Cuba will not assassinate, Cuba will not make people disappear, Cuba will not assist in illegal assassinations, Cuba will not torture, Cuba will not implement violence, Cuba will not repress. However, Cuba will strictly implement its laws; it has done so because the UN Charter acknowledges this as its right, International Law acknowledges it, and Cuba has the right to defend itself and to mete out punishment, just as laws in the United States and the world over impart punishment to those who collaborate with a foreign power that is attacking their country. We must remember that Cuba was forced, at the time, to adopt measures in response to the openly provocative performance by the chief of the US Interests Section in Havana and, therefore, I am reiterating here today that the US Government and the chief of the US Interests Section in Havana will share the historical blame for the defensive measures that Cuba had to adopt to prevent individuals within the country from collaborating with the implementation of the Helms-Burton Law and the US subversion policy against Cuba.

As background information also, I must reiterate our information about the trials, because all of that has been discussed; I must reiterate -- because I believe it is an issue on which we must get to the truth -- the 12 characteristics of the trials against the 75 mercenaries.

First -- I repeat -- there was no violence or use of force, not even minimal force; their individual rights and their integrity were respected.

Second: The trials were summary, which means -- according to Cuban law -- that the deadlines to stage the trials were reduced, but there were no limitations on rights in any of the cases. Therefore, I reject the notion that the summary trials meant a loss of rights for the defendants. They meant, quite simply, a shortening of the deadlines without the loss of those rights, which -- in accordance with Cuban Law -- can be withheld by the president of the People's Supreme Tribunal.

Third: All of the defendants were previously informed of the charges brought against them and they had an opportunity, as do all defendants in Cuba, to argue the charges prior to the trial. It is false that they were informed of the charges during the trial. False, as they admitted during the trials.

Fourth: All of the defendants exercised their right to a defense attorney. There were 54 defense attorneys, 44 of them or 80 percent appointed by the defendants themselves or their relatives -- 44 of the 54 were appointed by the defendants themselves or their relatives -- 10 were assigned counsel. When a defendant does not appoint an attorney, he is assigned counsel in accordance with Cuban law.

Fifth: All of the defendants exercised their right to be heard in oral trials at ordinary civilian tribunals; tribunals that had been previously established in accordance with Cuban and International Law. Therefore, I can assert once again that a special ad hoc tribunal was not created to prosecute them, nor were special judges or emergency judges appointed. The judges were already employed as judges and had been appointed to already existing tribunals that functioned regularly prior to the trials. It is nothing like what awaits the detainees at the Guantanamo Naval Base, the prisoners at that concentration camp, where special military tribunals will be created with appointed judges. In other words, to fail to acknowledge this is to truly disregard the truth.

Sixth: There were no secret trials. The oral hearings for all of the trials were public and in the presence of the parties involved. There were 29 trials and all 29 met the requirements of being public, oral, and in the presence of the parties involved. Almost 3,000 people participated in those 29 trials, therefore there was an average of 100 individuals at each trial, which included the defendants' relatives. The assertion that the relatives did not attend the trials is false and that can be proven. In addition to the relatives, there were witnesses, experts, other citizens; therefore, I must once again deny reports that the trials were secret. That is false. It is true that certain foreign diplomats in Havana, a few who had asked to attend the trials, were not present; that is true. However, that was because nationals from their countries were not being prosecuted; all of the defendants were Cubans. The Vienna Convention on diplomatic and consular relations establishes the Diplomatic Corps' right to participate when a national from their country is standing trial. International Law does not establish that diplomats have a right to participate, and in this case the tribunals decided not to grant access to diplomats. That does not constitute a violation of International Law, and it does not imply that the trials were secret because eight or 10 ambassadors to Havana were not present. There is some distortion and exaggeration in all of this. The tribunal decided not to grant access to the press and they were not allowed in; the tribunal has the authority to do that. They considered the nature of the information that would be discussed, even the secret nature of some of the information pertaining to the country's national security. The tribunal has the power to do that. They also avoided an atmosphere of publicity that would interfere with the trial, with the impartiality and objectivity of the tribunal. This does not mean that the trials were secret; the relatives were there. I already said that almost 3,000 people participated in those trials.

Seventh: All of the defendants and their defense attorneys exercised the right to provide evidence and witnesses in their favor -- in favor of the defendants. They provided evidence and witnesses, in addition to those that were presented by the police investigators and by the Prosecutor's Office. The defendants themselves and their defense attorneys presented witnesses and additional evidence at the trials. The defense attorneys presented 28 witnesses, apart from the 28 presented by the Prosecutor's Office during the trial. The defense would say: "I now call so and so," and then question him. Of the 28 witnesses, the tribunals authorized 22, a vast majority, to participate and they participated and testified.

Eighth: All of the defense attorneys had previous access to the prosecutors' records. I must remind you at this point that the defense attorneys of the five Cuban heroes who are incarcerated in the United States, during the fixed trial staged in Miami did not have access to 80 percent of the information contributed by the Prosecutor's Office, because that information was declared secret; to this day they have been unable to see those records; in other words, they had to go to trial and file their appeals without seeing 80 percent of the evidence contributed by the Prosecutor's Office, because it was declared secret. Not only did they not have previous access, the defense lawyers in the case of the five have never had any access. That did not happen here. The defense attorneys had previous access to the records. The defendants have acknowledged this and some of them testified that they had met with their attorney and examined all of the information.

Ninth: All the defendants had the right, as provided by our Law and as each was advised during the trial—and most of them exercised it—to appeal the sentence; to appeal the sentence before a higher court than the court that convicted them, in this case, before the Supreme Tribunal. In fact, today there are a dozen cases in which proceedings have not ended and which are in the appeals stage. Therefore, they exercised this right provided for by Cuban law.

Tenth: All seizures and confiscations of goods were carried out under judicial order and after proving the illicit origin of the goods.

We are not talking about arbitrary actions by police members here, but rather about judicial orders (that were served) after their illicit origin was proven.

Let us recall that several defendants were found in the possession of sums such as one that was close to $16,000, hidden in a suit lining. It is not known why, because possession of dollars is not illegal in Cuba. It is not known why this money was not in a bank account. It was apparently hidden; it is not known why it was hidden.

Eleventh: The most scrupulous respect for the physical and moral integrity of each of the defendants was ensured in each stage of the proceedings, and several of them voluntarily acknowledged this during the trials.

Twelfth: There is absolutely no evidence—and if anyone has it, he should bring it forth—that coercion, pressure, threats, or blackmail were used to obtain the defendants' statements and confessions.

I believe it is good to repeat these 12 elements in order to present the truth amid this enormous campaign that repeats, and not precisely innocently, the arguments fabricated and orchestrated by Cuba's enemies. He who repeats the lie becomes an accomplice in its dissemination, and that has been happening in this case. Fine.

Now I will give new information on the trials that we did not have when we reported on them in this same location, insofar as the trials had ended only two days before. There is currently much more information on the matter.

I believe in the final analysis it is good, in order to see whether truth is understood, known, disseminated, and whether there is at least the ethics to acknowledge that Cuba has provided other information and that it should be made available to the public so it may make its own judgment, taking our arguments into account also, and not only the arguments of our accusers, not only the arguments of our aggressors.

Let us recall that the courts convicted 75 people, including 74 men and one woman. At the time of their arrests, five; that is, 7 percent, had jobs. Meanwhile, 70, or 93 percent, did not have jobs in Cuba. They did not work; they did not receive a salary for any job performed in Cuba.

Now, I would like someone to explain to me how they earned a living. How can someone live in Cuba without a salary, without working? And 70 of the 75 had no job, did not work, and their status was "unemployed." Supposing that one does not survive by robbing and that one does not commit crimes, where did they get the money to eat, clothe themselves, and cover other expenses, in the understanding that these were not family remittances either? They were remittances, but not family remittances; they were salaries paid by their employers.

Who gave them this money? The US Government did, and I believe this was amply proven here. The dispatches and press articles reporting on the matter barely talk about that. However, the proof, the checks, the invoices, and the payrolls that included the $3,000-a-month salaries were presented here.

This is not said. I do not know why this is not said; it is minimized, hidden. However, every day it is said that they were intellectuals; that the leading Cuban intellectuals were arrested. However, it is not said, and it is not recalled that starting in 1997 and until 15 January 2004—listen carefully; until 15 January 2004—the US Agency for International Aid (as heard) admitted that they alone—and they said they did not give the largest share—had assigned $26 million of the US budget to finance the creation of groups in Cuba, to manufacture a domestic opposition in Cuba.

The director of the Agency for International Aid said it: $26 million from 1997 to January 2004. The 2004 US budget includes approval of another $7 million; this is in the US law; it is on the US Government web page: $7 million to finance the creation of a domestic opposition in Cuba. That is the origin of the money, most of which stays in Miami, in the hands of middlemen, and a part comes here.

The thing is that the money that comes here has great value because these people, irrespective of their actions against the Revolution; irrespective of their work at the service of the US Government, do not have to pay for health; do not have to pay for their children's education; have all social rights and benefits, and therefore, $1,000 in Cuba is a millionaire's salary, as all those who are seated in this auditorium know.

That is where the money came from.

Therefore, first pieces of data: Seventy of the 75 did not have jobs; they were unemployed; most had not worked in several, four, five, six years. Why didn't they work? Because they had money. Where did they get this money? From the US Government.

Educational level: Of the 75, only 25, or 33 percent, are university graduates—25 of the 75! The rest have not graduated, have not set foot in the university, and have no university credits. Twenty-five, or 33 percent, are university graduates.

Journalists: Of the 25 university graduates, two graduated with degrees in journalism. Last year I said four, but I was wrong. Two studied journalism: Raul Rivero and Julio Cesar Galvez, who was a sportscaster. There is no other journalism graduate here; well, unless writing what is dictated to them by those who pay them and sending it to the Miami Herald or El Nuevo Heraldo makes them journalists; that's something else. However, two of the 25 have journalism degrees from a Cuban or foreign university.

Fourteen of the 75, or 19 percent, are 12th grade graduates, and did college preparatory work, and that is how far they went. They did not enter the university. Another 15; that is, 20 percent, studied to be mid-level technicians and at some point graduated from a mid-level technical school; one completed the 10th grade and dropped out; 18, or 24 percent of the total, completed the ninth grade; 18, or one quarter of the total, completed the ninth grade in Cuba, which as you know is the compulsory schooling for all the country's children; and one is a sixth-grade graduate. There is one on whom I do not have exact information.

When you report on the matter, I would like you to remember that 25 of the 75 are university graduates. When you talk about Cuban journalists and intellectuals, keep in mind that one-third of them are university graduates, and of that total, two have journalism degrees.

I remember a prominent member of the Spanish cabinet who said the creme de la creme of Cuban culture was in prison; impressive; and a woman who should never have crossed the Atlantic to come here, but well, that is an old story.

The correspondents who are seated here are familiar with our ethical standards and our attachment to truth; you know; I do not need to ask for a vote of credibility. You know that when we say something we say it because it is, and because we are right, and because we are armed with truth: Fifteen of the 75, or 20 percent of the total, have criminal records for common crimes. This was not known when we spoke about this matter here: three for rape or lascivious abuse of minors; one for aggravated robbery; four for economic crimes; one murder, two assaults; one burglary; two for disturbing the peace, and one on drug trafficking.

I understand it is not easy to be objective; I understand that there are interests behind the various media; I understand owners establish editorial lines; I understand there is the Inter-American Press Society, whose members are the oligarchic owners of this hemisphere's media; I understand things are not published because they are not appreciated over there at the home offices; I understand all that. However, I believe I have the right, as our people's representative, to invoke our right to have the truth known, to not have all these elements I said here be treated as if they had not happened.

I believe that is the least a besieged, blocked country can ask.

Regarding all this, we must remember that last year the UN Commission for Human Rights voted. The Costa Rican Government, at the request and mandate of the US Government, presented a text to condemn Cuba for conducting those trials, to condemn Cuba for deciding to take the mercenaries to court, and to demand that they be released. And the Commission for Human Rights voted.

The Costa Rican proposal to condemn Cuba was overwhelmingly defeated by 31 votes against and 15 votes in favor. Therefore, Cuba understands that the Commission for Human Rights supported Cuba's right to adopt those measures and refused to condemn those trials and to demand that they be released.

I would say that the vote in Geneva, plus the extraordinary impact of the presence of Comrade Fidel in Argentina where he was received in a truly impressive manner by the multitudes, by the Argentinean people; all that, plus the fact that Cuba's arguments began opening the way; the role of the intellectuals, honest voices in the world, of the best of the international intellectuality, of the Cuban intellectuality, who forestalled the media campaign, all that made that first campaign that questioned the legality of the trials lose strength.

Now there is a new campaign underway and this one has to do with the situation of the jails where the 75 mercenaries are being held and the medical attention they receive. Now then, is this the first campaign launched against Cuba involving counterrevolutionary prisoners serving jail sentences? No, no, no. This is not the first campaign. Cuba is accustomed to this.

As a sample I have decided to remind you of this that I will now show you. This is not the first time that Cuba faces a campaign like this one; no, no, no, no way. We know about this. We have been fighting media campaigns for the past 45 years. (Video is shown)

Do you know who is person is? Armando Valladares, policeman during the (Fulgencio) Batista dictatorship. He was arrested -- the newspapers for that period are available -- for planting bombs. These bombs had been put in cigar boxes and planted in public places throughout Havana. He was a member of a terrorist cell of which Carlos Alberto Montaner was also a member. They were condemned and Armando Valladares was sent to prison in Cuba. But see how the press presented the case: "An invalid poet has been imprisoned in Cuba;" "Armando Valldares' freedom is requested;" "Armando Valladares imprisoned in Cuba;" "Freedom for Valldares;" "Imprisoned in his wheelchair;" "A poet languishes in Cuban jails;" "From my wheelchair," the book of poems by Armando Valladares, third edition; "The heart with which I live." Look, a copy of an important international newspaper: "An invalid poet;" however, look at the images captured one day of the alleged invalid poet in his prison cell. See him here exercising.

(Video is shown)

Professor Alvarez Cambra -- As we were saying, the medical examiners, a group of high-ranking professors, well-known colleagues from the fields of neurology, surgery, orthopedics, and rehabilitation, reached the conclusion that the patient Armando Valladares was pretending, in other words, he was a fake. They reached the conclusion that Valladares wanted to get the best out of the image of being an invalid when the truth was that he never was an invalid. Are those the conclusion of this commission?

Felipe Perez Roque -- There you have the "invalid poet" running before he left Cuba. He was told: "Well, you have to give us the proof because Cuba has to prove that you are in effect, not an invalid."

(Video is shown)

Announcer -- In October 1982, Armando Valladares, former member of General Batista's repressive corps and well known terrorist, flew from Havana to Paris after being the center of an international campaign aimed more so at destroying the image of a country than at rigorously establishing the truth.

Felipe Perez Roque -- It happened like in the Bible: "Rise and walk." He did just like Lazarus did. The truth made him walk. (laughter) Now look (shows video), see him here, the "invalid poet, being greeted at the White House by (former US President Ronald) Reagan. After that he became head of the US delegation to the UN Commission for Human Rights just like Luis Zuniga Rey, the other terrorist who now has a seat in the United States and who was arrested in Cuba in a boat loaded with explosives and assault rifles. They claim he is a "fighter for human rights."

Why was Luis Z??iga Rey imprisoned in Cuba? Because he was arrested on the coast with a CIA organized landing team. Rifles and explosives were seized at the time of his capture. However, there he is holding an office in the United States as "defender of human rights." It is a long story. Cuba knows it well and is accustomed to these campaigns.

One day that was the campaign against Cuba and those who negotiated to get the release of the "invalid poet" received the first pictures so that they would know what it was they were getting into and have no complaints later. There is a book by Regis Debray, former adviser to the president of France at that time, somewhere out there that states: "... and it turned out that the poet was no poet after all, that the invalid could walk quite normally, and the Cuban was not longer a Cuban. He was a US citizen who participated in the dirty war against the Sandinists in Nicaragua." Those were the actual words of the adviser to the French president back then who negotiated and requested the release of the "invalid poet."

Therefore, Cuba knows about these campaigns and knows that it has been a pressure mechanism against Cuba and that it is part of the war that Cuba has had to endure.

Now that there is a new campaign underway I say this. There is a campaign that imposes the interests of that are behind the aggression against Cuba. I do not blame the journalists. I do not blame the correspondents accredited in Havana. I do not blame them for this. However, I do say that there is a campaign against our country.

I have an excellent relationship, all of us here at the Foreign Ministry have an excellent relationship, with the correspondents in Havana. We try our best to contribute to their serious work, which we respect as we respect the work of our local journalists. I do not blame you. These words are not intended to describe your work but to describe the interests that are behind the media and the campaign against Cuba.

Seven lies have been repeated over and over again. These are seven lies about the situation at the Cuban jails and about the medical treatment given prisoners because of their mercenary activities against their country.

First: "That the prisoners are being held incommunicado." That is a lie. That is false!

Second: "That they are held in walled-up areas or holes," copying somewhat the idea of the Hole where our Cuban patriots have been confined to for up to 17 months in the United States. Our fellow countrymen have been held in these walled-up cells in their underwear and with artificial light on all day. It is not true that this has happened here! It has been said that these are dungeons! That is a lie!

Third: "That they have or that they are being beaten;" That is a lie!

Fourth: "That they are not given medical attention;" that is a lie and I will prove it.

Fifth: "That they cannot see their families;" That is a lie!

Sixth: "That they receive practically no food; that they are dying of hunger and starvation;" That is a lie! That is false and I deny it, in a country that has restrictions (limitaciones) on the food for all the population as a result of the economic war that the country has endured for more than 45 years and as a result of the restrictions that the special period imposed on our country. (sentence as received)

Seventh: "That they do not get all the water they need and that the hygienic conditions are practically below standards (incompatibles con la vida)."

We approached the Cuban penitentiary authorities and have asked them for information, and when we say here that these are "lies!" that this is false, and that we deny the tendentious nature and the attempt to stain our country with this, we say it because we are right and because we have looked into this. We have asked our comrades, whose humanistic feeling has been made clear to everyone even though not a single word of this was ever told to the world the day they came on television to explain how they carry out their work with responsibility, how they put their hopes into educating and into the reinsertion of the prisoners in Cuba. We asked them about this, and this is what they told is. This information is the result of having sat down with them and having asked them for the information to bring here.

What is the truth? I hereby state that the Cuban penitentiary authorities are abiding by the Minimum UN Rules for the Handling of Prisoners. That our country closely follows, and in some cases even more closely than called on to do, the daily manual that establishes the guidelines to be followed to work at these prisons.

I maintain that the 75 mercenaries imprisoned in Cuba are treated with respect and without humiliations.

I maintain here that it is not true that they are victims of cruel, inhuman, and humiliating actions.

I maintain that there is respect for their physical and moral integrity.

I maintain that they are treated like human beings.

I maintain that a spirit of revenge does not prevail over them just because they are their adversaries, just because they have contributed to the policy of the enemy of their people to drown their in hunger and disease. I maintain that there are ethics within us that prevent us from one day violating those rules; ethics that come from the birth of the Cuban Revolution, from the revolutionary army that first cured injured enemy soldiers with its medicines, that never killed a prisoner, and that fought them but always respecting rules that were later codified as International Humanitarian Rights. A Revolution born from ethics, born from the triumph over a bloody dictatorship that had the support of the United States until the very last day, could not imitate its methods. I maintain that there is rigor in our actions, but there is respect, there is integrity. I reject the lie on behalf of a people who cannot be accused of being a fanatic people. Our people would never allow and would not believe in us if we were to one day break those ethics and that word and, therefore, I reject the campaign, and I'm going to provide evidence to prove it. Very well then, I am going to explain here 16 rights that are being observed for those prisoners, and somebody tell me if that is the truth or not. First: None of those 75 prisoners has to sleep on the floor; they all have a bed and mattress -- confirmed to us by the authorities in charge. Second: They all have access to potable water. Third: They all have access to receive the press. Fourth: They all get sun outdoors on a daily basis. They have that right, which is fulfilled, except when there is indiscipline, improper behavior, violations of the regulations, like in every prison. But it is their right and it is fulfilled in an absolute manner for every prisoner in Cuba. Fifth: They receive from the prison authorities means for personal hygiene, despite the limitations that our country has. Sixth: They receive the regulation uniform. Seventh: They have access to television in common places, I mean, in rooms where they are not by themselves. Eighth: They have the right to receive religious assistance if they request it, and in fact they request it, and in fact those who have requested it have been receiving it. Ninth: They receive sufficient and adequate food, with an average caloric intake of more than 2,400 kilocalories a day, which is what the World Health Organization recommends. Now, it is food that has the same limitations and problems as for the Cuban population, since it is a problem that has yet to be resolved in our country despite our efforts and because of what I already said: the economic war that has been imposed on us and the special period. But the idea that they are dying of hunger, the idea that they are on the verge of starvation, the idea that tries to suggest (they are like) the Nazi concentration camps in Europe, is a lie. Tenth: They all receive free medical care of a high scientific and humane level, with free supply of medicines and all the necessary analyses. It is their right and they exercise it, independent of their ideas and even of their behavior, and I will prove it. Eleventh: They receive family visits every three months. It is what is established for this stage of their prison sentence. Twelfth: They have the right to be allowed conjugal relations every five months, and they do it. They have the right to the so-called conjugal pavilion, where they can receive their spouses in conditions of privacy and respect. You don't see in Cuba the images shown on the Roundtable on the prison system in Cuba and the world, where one could see prisoners in the United States having conjugal relations in front of their children, hiding under a table, in the middle of a family visit. All of you here saw those images, right?, because they are video images that our people saw on television. Nothing like that happens here. Thirteenth: Each one of them has the right to receive food that their relatives bring them, besides the food they receive in the prison. Fourteenth: They have the right to receive books that their relatives bring them. Fifteenth: They have the right to send and receive correspondence to and from their relatives and to make telephone calls -- 100 minutes a month, insofar as it is possible. There are places where it is not possible due to Cuba's limitations, but in the majority it is and they do it. Sixteenth: They will also be able to benefit from the progressive regime established in the rules as the right of every prisoner, depending on his behavior, which means an improvement in his situation, of his disciplinary regime, gauged by his behavior in prison, his good conduct and time in prison, which means an increase in the number of family visits, etcetera, all of the other rights, like every prisoner in Cuba. I have provided 16 elements. Now I want to know if that is going to be published, as the whole opposite has been published, or if you are still going to go on only about the versions inspired by the interests of Cuba's enemies. I also have here an article attributed to (US) Secretary of State Colin Powell published in several Latin American newspapers these days. I have here La Nacion, from Argentina, entitled: "One has to support those who fight for democracy in Cuba." The truth is that to see a representative from the US Government talking about democracy, in the midst of the international discredit that the US Government has today for the violation of democracy in the world, acting outside the United Nations, humiliating international institutions, is something really impossible to comprehend. It says here that: "these people have been arrested for the crime of thinking and acting independently." There are two lies here: the first, it is not for thinking, it was for acting at the service of the United States and for receiving its money; the second, is that they did not act independently, but they acted under the guidance of the US Government and the Interests Section. The secretary of State is not well informed. It says here that they were "independent librarians and journalists." Well, I already said that there were two journalists, none independent. They are dependent on the US Government, of its guidance, its means, its money. Now, "independent librarians," I consider this to be a joke. The idea that there is a need for libraries in Cuba, a country that has almost 400 public libraries, besides one library in each of its 15,000 schools, is something beyond belief. It seems to me that after the Book Fair, the idea that the US Government has to worry about encouraging libraries in Cuba is something that would cause laughter if it wasn't also meddling and part of its subversive plan against the country. Besides, "independent journalists and librarians." (As published) Listen, if they are independent, then we are Martians. Now, it says here -- I'm going to dwell on this --, "these men and women" -- it says "women," as you know there is only one -- "are serving their draconian sentences in inhumane" -- listen to this, the US secretary of State -- "and extremely unhealthy conditions, in which medical services are completely inadequate. As a result, some of them have developed serious health problems." I wonder if Secretary of State Powell remembers that he is the minister of foreign relations of a country that has a concentration camp in the Guantanamo Navy Base. To speak about the situation in another place, he should remember what his situation is, what his roof is made of. And the jails in Iraq? And the prisoners in the United States who don't even know what they are accused of? I have here an article written by journalist Gordon Thomas about what they call Camp Cropper. Camp Cropper is a jail located in the outskirts of the Baghdad international airport; it's a jail that the US Army has outside of Baghdad. "A gulag," says this journalist. "There are 3,000 Iraqi prisoners in that jail." It says that "none of them has been processed yet;" that is, they have been in prison for one year without knowing what they are accused of, they have not appeared before a judge, they have not gone to court. It says that "they live in tents that offer little protection from the blazing sun, a temperature of 50 degrees (centigrade); 80 people under each tent on small mattresses." "They give each prisoner three liters of water a day to wash themselves and to drink. Temperatures that reach 50 degrees at noon." "Each one has a shovel with a long handle to dig themselves a latrine;" "some of them discover that they dug a hole where one already existed; some are too old or weak to dig the three-foot depth for their latrine." It says, "Amnesty International has received information of prisoners who died in that camp, under custody, from blows of the weapons of members of the US Army." "Women have to sleep in a tent, just like the men;" "like the men, they are not allowed to wash their underwear;" "some of them have developed nasty sores;" that "they are given a little cup of anti-flea powder to treat the worst body infections." Do you think that the Foreign Relations minister of a country that owns a jail like this one has the moral authority, really, to refer to the conditions in Cuban jails, or should I think that there is a problem of ignorance and that there is no idea of what has been said? My personal conclusion is that Mr. Powell signs the articles that some anti-Cuban scribe prepares for him, without even having any idea of the content or the theme that it deals with. Perhaps he is innocent, but his signature appears under an article of which he has no idea. Now, Thomas's article was not published in the big media. No, no, no, that only appears in Rebelion. The great press, which every day publishes something about jails in Cuba, considered what I have just read about the concentration camp outside of Baghdad to not be an important issue. Let's be clear, things are the way they are and not the way we want them to be; but that does not mean that we should not fight for them to be the way they should be. Very well now, about medical care for the 75 prisoners. I already said and maintain that all the prisoners have access to high-quality medical attention. As an example, I am going to broach here two cases that have been the subject of the most ferocious campaign: (the first is) Oscar Espinosa Chepe, one of the 75 imprisoned mercenaries. I think it was said at that moment that he was one of the ones who had dealt with the most money, according to the receipts that have been published. It has been published over and over again that he has cancer, that he has cirrhosis of the liver and that, despite all that, we keep him in cruel conditions, without medical care. I have invited here today Doctor Felix Baez Sarria, first level specialist in internal medicine from the "Carlos Juan Finlay" Hospital. He is the doctor that treats inmate Oscar Espinosa Chepe. I have asked him to come and I have asked him to answer the questions that I am going to ask him. Dr. Baez, I thank you for having agreed to be here with us. You graduated in medicine in what year? Felix Baez -- In 1995. Felipe Perez -- And in the specialty of internal medicine? Felix Baez -- In 2000. Felipe Perez -- That is, you are a first level specialist since 2000. Thank you Felix, forgive us for having to take you away from your duties, but your work is being denigrated, your integrity as a doctor, and of all Cuban doctors, is being offended, and that has led us to have to ask you for this effort, which we know is far from your usual tasks. Since 2000 you are a doctor, first level specialist in internal medicine. Felix Baez -- Yes. Felipe Perez -- Since when do you work there at the "Carlos Juan Finlay" Hospital? Felix Baez Sarria -- Since 1997. Felipe Perez -- That means you have been working at the "Finlay" Hospital for seven years, since when have you been treating the patient Espinosa Chepe? Felix Baez -- I have been treating Espinosa Chepe since August 2003. Felipe Perez -- Since August 2003, that means you have been treating him for a little less than a year. Could you explain to us what health condition patient Espinosa Chepe suffers from? Does he have cancer? Felix Baez -- He does not have cancer, comrade minister. Felipe Perez -- Does he have cirrhosis of the liver? Felix Baez -- He does not have cirrhosis of the liver at this time. Felipe Perez -- Please, I ask you to explain what health condition the inmate Oscar Espinosa Chepe suffers from. Felix Baez -- Well, patient Oscar Espinosa Chepe has a history of having had brucellosis in 1983. Felipe Perez -- He had an illness called brucellosis in 1983. Felix Baez -- Positive. Felipe Perez -- Could you explain to us what it consists of? Felix Baez -- Well, brucellosis is generally an illness that affects cattle and that can sporadically be transmitted to humans. Felipe Perez -- Is it a parasite? Felix Baez -- It's a bacteria that can live inside the body's cells. Felipe Perez -- What does it cause? Felix Baez -- He was left with a granular liver; that is, with a hepatic granulomatous. Felipe Perez -- That means, his liver was affected with an illness called... Felix Baez -- Hepatic granulomatosis. Felipe Perez -- Hepatic granulomatosis; that means he suffers from hepatic granulomatosis, caused by brucellosis in 1983. Felix Baez -- I was telling you that it is a granular liver, which he has since 1983 and that he has been stable for almost 20 years; that is, there has been no progression of his illness. Felipe Perez -- When granulomatosis progresses, what can it cause? Felix Baez -- Usually hepatic granulomatosis by brucella is a reactionary state; that is, a reaction of the organism to the brucella and it does not generally progress to cirrhosis of the liver. Felipe Perez -- He has been kept stable in these 20 years, he has been stable. Felix Baez -- Stable. Felipe Perez -- What is his health condition? Felix Baez -- Well, since August 2003, a series of laboratory tests and imaging studies have been performed that prove that that illness remains stable. Felipe Perez -- Could you tell us what tests have been done on him? Felix Baez -- Well, liver function tests were performed, better known by the population as transaminases, which have shown normal levels since August 2003. Felipe Perez -- His transaminases levels are normal. What does this mean? Felix Baez -- That the liver is functioning correctly. Felipe Perez -- His liver functions correctly. So one can say that his liver functions correctly? Felix Baez -- One can say that. Felipe Perez -- Very well, does he have cirrhosis of the liver? Felix Baez -- He does not have cirrhosis of the liver. Felipe Perez -- How can that be affirmed? Felix Baez -- We can affirm it clinically because the patient is a patient who has gained weight; he's a patient who does not have any symptoms or signs of hepatic defects; he's a patient whose coagulation tests are normal -- this is a test in which very early, practically hours after hepatic defect, there are coagulation alterations. We can say that he is a patient who has gained weight, who has maintained hemoglobin levels, as I was saying, between 12 and 14 grams. Felipe Perez -- His hemoglobin today is between 12 and 14. Felix Baez -- We could say that in the last hemoglobin (test), less than 10 days ago, he had 15.2 grams of hemoglobin. Felipe Perez -- Doctor, if he had cirrhosis of the liver, how would that be known? Felix Baez -- We would know from a clinical point of view, as I was explaining, by a series of clinical signs, such as weight loss, anemia, blood reading, portal hypertension symptoms, that is, circulation increases around the abdomen, varicose veins can be seen on the skin, there could be varicose veins in the esophagus that cause digestive bleeding. He does not have any of that at this time. We also have (the results) of a recent endoscopy, where a chronic gastroduodenitis is described, he does not have any deficiencies in the veins in his esophagus, they are normal, and he is a patient who enjoys a good general health state. Felipe Perez -- Has he lost weight this year? Felix Baez -- He has not lost weight; I can say that he has gained weight. He weighs 170 pounds, and has a body mass index of 26. We can describe him as slightly overweight. Felipe Perez -- Very well. Could you describe to us what the progress has been during this period under your care? How often do you see him, what kind of medical care have you given him? Felix Baez -- We see him generally two times a week, in addition to each time that the patient requests. Any complaint he may have, any symptom he may present, we go there ready and we give him care. Felipe Perez -- Two times a week, you, as an internal medicine specialist, go there and examine him. Felix Baez -- I examine him there; in addition to the fact that, if I consider it necessary for him to see another specialist, not from my specialty, he is called and he also comes. Felipe Perez -- Have other specialists seen him? Felix Baez -- A dermatologist has seen him; the ear, nose, and throat specialist has seen him; the gastroenterologist has seen him; surgery professors and hematology professors have seen him. Felipe Perez -- All specialists? Felix Baez -- All specialists. Felipe Perez -- With degrees. Felix Baez -- And many of them also with teaching degrees. Felipe Perez -- Very well, could you tell me what analyses have been done? Felix Baez -- Well, we have given him a routine complementary battery, as we call it: such as hemograms, liver function tests, coagulation tests; he has had brucella tests, to know if the brucellosis is still active, and all have come back negative; he has had ultrasound tests; he has had more than five computerized axial tomographies; he has had thorax x-rays, paranasal x-rays, and other tests. Felipe Perez -- Could you tell me if something that is usually done to a patient with that type of illness has not been done to him because of the fact that he is in prison? Is there something that has not been done because of his political position, or because he is a prisoner? Felix Baez -- Negative, minister. All the analyses that have been necessary have been done. Felipe Perez -- Very well, has he been charged? Felix Baez -- Everything is absolutely free. Felipe Perez -- Have you had contact with his family? Felix Baez -- We have had contact with his family. Felipe Perez -- With whom? Felix Baez -- We have had contact with his niece. His niece is an intensive (care) doctor. Felipe Perez -- She is also a doctor. Felix Baez -- A doctor. Felipe Perez -- You have met with her. Felix Baez -- Yes, comrade minister. Felipe Perez -- To explain it to her? Felix Baez -- Yes. Felipe Perez -- With whom else? Felix Baez -- And with his wife. Felipe Perez -- Only once? Felix Baez -- I have met (with her) really only one time. Felipe Perez -- You sat down and explained it to her. Felix Baez -- I sat down and explained it to her with all the medical arguments. Felipe Perez -- Is there some test that should be given to him that has not been done yet? Felix Baez -- We could say that patient Oscar Espinosa Chepe should be given a laparoscopy and biopsy. Felipe Perez -- He should be given a laparoscopy and liver biopsy to detect what? Felix Baez -- To detect the level of hepatic activity since, clinically, as we know, there has not been any sign in 20 years that there has been any damage to that liver from a malignant point of view.

Felipe Perez - It would be to discard it not only clinically, but with proof, that there can be anything malignant.

Felix Baez - To obtain a sample of his tissue. What we see and examine is not the same as having a sample of that tissue.

Felipe Perez - He hasn't taken that test yet? Why?

Felix Baez - We have not carried out that test yet because the patient refuses to take it.

Felipe Perez - What happens when the patient refuses?

Felix Baez - Then we don't do it. We are used to giving all patients, not just these types of patients, the so-called informed consent. That is, the patient controls his own body and therefore he can decide what to do with his health. This is not a bloody procedure, but we need to have the patients consent. We could even say that if the patient does not have the ability to take a decision, then we talk with the patients' family for them to take a decision.

Felipe Perez - So we would never do that to an unconscious patient without the authorization of relatives or without his consent, no matter how simple the procedure is. Felix Baez - No matter if it's a simple procedure.

Felipe Perez - But we haven't carried out this one yet because the patient has not accepted and we respect his right. That's how it is, correct?

Felix Baez - Yes.

Felipe Perez - Well, thank you very much, doctor Felix Baez. The next case that we have talked about is the one of the prisoner Marta Beatriz Roque. Much information has been disseminated about this case, that is why I invited Doctor Annette Alvarez Perez, internal medicine specialist at the Carlos Juan Finlay Hospital. She is the doctor that takes care of Marta Beatriz Roque, and I have asked her to come here and give us her testimony. Doctor, you are a medicine school graduate, in what year?

Annette Alvarez - In 1992.

Felipe Perez - And internal medicine specialist?

Annette Alvarez - In 2000.

Felipe Perez - So you have been an internal medicine specialist for four years. How long have you been working in the hospital?

Annete Alvarez - Since 1997.

Felipe Perez - Since when have you been Marta Beatriz Roque's doctor?

Annete Alvarez - Since July 2003.

Felipe Perez - Since July 2003, since she has been imprisoned at the Carlos Juan Finlay Hospital. I ask you to forgive me as well, I know that this is not your usual job; but also in your case, as well as in with all other Cuban doctors, your technical competence and humanistic spirit has been questioned and denigrated. That is what led me to bring you here. It has been said before that patient Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello suffers from breast cancer; it has also been said that she suffers from Ischemic cardiopathy. Is that true?

Annete Alvarez - She does not suffer from breast cancer, she has a breast dysplacia and she is treated with vitamin E, one tablet a day.

Felipe Perez - Is a breast dysplacia a malignant pathology?

Annette Alvarez - It is not a malignant pathology.

Felipe Perez - Is it breast cancer?

Annette Alvarez - It is not breast cancer.

Felipe Perez - Can it lead to breast cancer?

Annette Alvarez - No.

Felipe Perez - Is a common pathology among other women?

Annette Alvarez - Yes.

Felipe Perez - Are women more prone to suffer from this disease at a certain age?

Annette Alvarez - Yes, they are more prone.

Felipe Perez - Can we firmly confirm that patient Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello does not suffer from breast cancer?

Annette Alvarez - Yes. She does not have breast cancer.

Felipe Perez - Is the dysplacia in the same state or has it worsened?

Annette Alvarez - She is stable, she does not have any worsening symptoms or signs. The last ultrasounds do not show any worsening of her condition and she does vitamin E cycles.

Felipe Perez - What is the indicated treatment for that disease doctor?

Annette Alvarez - Vitamin E.

Felipe Perez - Is she taking it?

Annette Alvarez - Yes.

Felipe Perez - How many?

Annette Alvarez - One 400 milligram tablet a day.

Felipe Perez - Who gives them to her?

Annette Alvarez - At the hospital, she is hospitalized.

Felipe Perez - Ischemic cardiopathy. Can you tell us what her real situation is with her current medical treatment?

Annette Alvarez - Marta Beatriz is a 57 year-old patient, with a five year hypertension history.

Felipe Perez - So she suffers from hypertension for five years.

Annette Alvarez - Five years ago.

Felipe Perez - One year ago, when she arrived at the hospital, did she already suffer from hypertension?

Annette Alvarez - She was already a hypertensive patient. She had an irregular treatment with enalapril, two tablets a day.

Felipe Perez - What does irregular treatment mean?

Annette Alvarez - She did not do it everyday.

Felipe Perez - She did not take the pill every day, she was irregular before.

Annette Alvarez - We received her on 23 July at the hospital, she was complaining of a thoracic pain, which she referred to as an intermittent stabbing pain that would not irradiate to any other place in her body and was not accompanied of any other symptoms. When we did the physical exam, we found elevated arterial tension and we decided to leave the patient in observation and carry out an electrocardiogram. When we did the electrocardiogram we observed that there was a complete obstruction of the left arteries; this made us change our minds and leave the patient in observation because a high percentage of patients with obstructions in left arteries are due to Ischemic causes, even though the patient's pain did not appear to be from coronary ischemia. We then decided to put the patient in a semi-intensive care room. Progress was favorable in this room. Her thoracic pain stopped, but we could still observe the complete obstruction of left arteries. Because of her favorable progress we decided to move her to the inmate rooms of the Finlay Hospital. Felipe Perez - In this room doctor. Where does she sleep there?

Annette Alvarez - She sleeps in a room; a room she shares with another patient. Each one has hero own bed, their hospitalization beds.

Felipe Perez - Does she have a bathroom?

Annette Alvarez - There is a bathroom in the room.

Felipe Perez - Running water?

Annette Alvarez - She has running water

Felipe Perez - Does she get water from the sink?

Annette Alvarez - 24 hours a day.

Felipe Perez - Does she have television?

Annette Alvarez - At the time she has television.

Felipe Perez - Where?

Annette Alvarez - In her room. When she was already in the room, a group of specialists decided carry out a eco-stress test to discard any possibility of it being a coronary ischemia. We scheduled an appointment at another institution where they carry out this test and she got an eco-stress test. Felipe Perez - Where was it done?

Annette Alvarez - At the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital.

Felipe Perez - They took her to the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital to do an eco-stress test.

Annette Alvarez - An eco-stress test was done.

Felipe Perez - What is an eco-stress test please?

Annette Alvarez - The eco-stress test is an ultrasound of the heart: the patient is at rest and is then is monitored during stress. During the stress part, her heart did not show ischemic cardiopathy.

Felipe Perez - Is the test performed to check for ischemic cardiopathy?

Annette Alvarez - Yes. It had already been discarded from the clinical point of view, because of the symptoms.

Felipe Perez - This was an additional test.

Annette Alvarez - But this was a test that would help us because we were in doubt after the electrocardiogram we obtained before. That test denies the existence of an acute ischemic cardiopathy. So now we can say that Marta Beatriz does not have ischemic cardiopathy, but she has risk factors to suffer from it because she is overweight, has a body fat index of 26 percent. Marta Beatriz weighs 153 pounds and is 1.60 (meters) tall, so she is an overweight patient.

Felipe Perez - She is 1.60 (meters) and weighs 153 pounds. Has she lost any weight this year?

Annette Alvarez - No, she has not lost any weight.

Felipe Perez - Has she gained weight?

Annette Alvarez - Yes.

Felipe Perez - And that is a risk factor.

Annette Alvarez - That is a risk factor. She also has another risk factor because she is a hypertensive patient, with cardiovascular repercussions, because she has a hypertensive cardiopathy and is also a diabetic type II patient. These are chronic diseases which are currently compensated with her medical treatment.

Felipe Perez - What treatment does she receive for diabetes?

Annette Alvarez - She gets a treatment with a diet for diabetics; 1,800 calories, plus meat basal formula; she gets glibenclamide, 5 milligrams, one tablet during breakfast only. She began with three tablets a day and is now with only one tablet a day. Possibly next week she will be solely on her diet. Felipe Perez - Why?

Annette Alvarez - Because she it is controlled very well.

Felipe Perez - The diabetes. And the treatment for hypertensive cardiopathy? The high pressure disease she has?

Annette Alvarez - She takes Atenolol, 50 milligrams twice a day.

Felipe Perez - Can you tell us about her current situation?

Annette Alvarez - She is stable and symptom free.

Felipe Perez - How often do you see her?

Annette Alvarez - Twice a week and every time she requests medical consultations. Because of my specialty, since I am her main doctor, I determine if other specialists need to see her. Sometimes she requests a visit with another specialist. Felipe Perez - Have other specialists had to see her? Can you mention some?

Annette Alvarez - Yes, a gynecologist, maxillofacial, and allergist have seen her.

Felipe Perez - All specialists doctor?

Annette Alvarez - All specialists.

Felipe Perez - Have you had any contact with relatives of the patient?

Annette Alvarez - No.

Felipe Perez - Have other doctors there had any contact?

Annette Alvarez - Yes, when she was in intermediate therapy.

Felipe Perez - Very well, thank you doctor. Again, sorry for having to take you out of you habitual responsibilities; sorry for the idea that has been flying around that patients under your care could have been treated inhumanely. Or that the idea that you dedicate all your scientific talents and your human efforts to protect the life of those patients is put in doubt. Even when these are inmates, even when they have worked for the superpower that attacks our people. Thank you.

Finally, I want to show you these other testimonies. It is a selection of testimonies obtained by Cuban journalists in their conversations with family members. I will hand out the images later to the press.

(Recoded video interviews begin)

(Interview with Teresa Lopez Banobre, sister of convict Marcelo Lopez Banobre)

Interviewer - Well, how is your brother? When did you see him last?

Sister - I saw my brother last around 15 days ago, at the most. He was here at home. He was brought in by the people who are taking care of him and he came on a furlough, because my dad is in very bad health and I myself asked if it was possible to consider, I don't know... He was brought in. He was here an hour and a half approximately.

Interviewer - Here in the house?

Sister - Here in the house. He was with us. He's doing very well; he's doing very well; he's put on more pounds than ever in his life. My brother was always a very slim person and he's now weighing 60 kilos, right? He's weighing 60 kilos; he used to weigh 48 or 49; that's the most weight he's had. He's got good care, good treatment; he acknowledges that much.

I've got letters from him in which he says that he's not been offended, vexed or debased; that he has been treated with respect. And regardless of what he says, one can sense that because his peace of mind tells you so, right? He's actually in jail, because he's deprived of the freedom to move; he's not doing badly; not doing badly; he's not...

Interviewer - Do you see him often? That is, how often can you see visit with him in jail?

Sister - Look, the frequency of the visits, in this case, is every three months, right? The visit is every three months, three hours approximately; sometimes they give you some extra time. What happens? In his case, he's been able, for various reasons, to see us almost every month; we've had to go on account of a legal problem, a subpoena. My mom went and she was allowed a few minutes to talk to him. On his birthday, my mother went there to take him cigarettes and she was also allowed to spend some time with him. And he knows that, because he has kept track of it. Between the conjugal visits and our visits, my brother has had a visit every month.

Interviewer - Does he have conjugal visits too? Does he have that facility?

Mireya Penton Orozco - Yes, conjugal visits are every five months for three hours. Three hours every five months. He had a CAT scan and a neurological study. In his own words, the CAT scan went normal, as he said here the week before last when he was here, but a recommendation was made for the neurological studies to continue. I think that my brother would concede to anyone that he has not been harassed, vexed, beaten. My brother has not been abandoned; my brother has been treated with respect, with commiseration, and we've been treated with respect and commiseration.

(Interview with Mireya Penton Orozco, mother of Lester Gonzalez Penton)

Interviewer - Mireya, I've come to see you to know how your son is doing, how his health is doing, how he's being treated.

Mireya Penton Orozco.- Well, he's in very fine health because he's young and, so far, he hasn't had any ailments. He's fine. He's been taken care of; I can't say he hasn't been taken care of; he has -- and lately, he has even been taken out on a furlough. He's been taken to a medical check-up. His mouth problem was dealt with. He had a few bad teeth pulled out to have his dentures in place. Now, he told me that he just got some infection; but, well, he's under a treatment with oxacillin and we hope that he'll get over it. He's got to wait 25 days, I think, to have his dentures made. He's been holding up pretty well there and his health has been all right up to now.

Interviewer - Do you write each other letters often?

Mireya Penton Orozco - Well, we do, although the letters sometimes take a while, back and forth. Well, I've been told that sometimes it's also a post office problem, I don't know what -- because, well, when I have a situation I go to the prison headquarters and get an explanation, and I demand that an explanation be given to me because I deserve it as a mother -- and then, what I've been told so far is that there are some mailing problems.

Interviewer - How are you treated when you go to the prison authorities? How's your relationship with them?

Mireya Penton Orozco - No, I haven't had any problems in that respect. I'm going to tell the truth: I've always been treated pretty well. I've always gone there and get an explanation on the situation I have.

(Interview with Dulce Maria Amador, wife of Carmelo Agustin Diaz Fernandez)

Interviewer - Dulce Maria, have you been able to visit Carmelo?

Dulce Maria Amador - Yes. He was detained on 19 March 2003. I used to go to Villamarista (detention center) every Wednesday, where I was given an hour. I saw him there, we chatted and I gave him food for lunch at that moment: coffee, juice, that sort of stuff. The trial was on 4 April and he was transferred to Guanajay Penitentiary on 23 April. As soon as we found out, we went to Guanajay the following day. Carmelo's daughter, who is a doctor, and myself. And we were allowed to see him right away, the following day, without any prior notice or anything. And we spent an hour talking to him on that cleanup visit, which is a prison regulation.

Interviewer - Did you take him anything?

Dulce Maria Amador - Yes, indeed, I took him lunch, juice and some toiletries.

Interviewer - Were you allowed to take that in without any hassle?

Dulce Maria Amador - Everything was passed on to him. I've never had any problems in Guanajay trying to pass anything in. Afterwards, I've kept going there to visit him every three months. Conjugal visits in Guanajay have been every four months, not like in other penitentiaries where the regulation is every five; I've had conjugal visits in Guanajay every four months and the regular visits every three.

Interviewer - Dulce, about the medical treatment he's received, what does Carmelo say about that?

Dulce Maria Amador - Well, Carmelo told me that he's got no complaints. On this last visit, on 4 April, we spent two hours together and he told me: "Dulce, I'm not feeling bad, I'm doing very well because the hospital facilities are very good." And Carmelo's daughter went to the hospital. I stayed on the visit with the son-in-law and with him talking about things and she went to see the hospital. Later on, she told me that the place was very clean, very organized, very neat and that the care is good. And he told me that he's doing fine, with his ailments, of course, because he's got them; but, well, he's feeling all right; he's being very well taken care of.

Interviewer - Has he been allowed to have his Bible?

Dulce Maria Amador - Yes, he's got a Bible.

Interviewer - What else?

Dulce Maria Amador - He's got the Bible since he was in Villa (the detention center). I took it to him the first week I went, the first Wednesday. It was my turn to go every Wednesday. I took him the The New Word, a magazine published by the Catholic Church; those little leaflets handed out every week at all services. I go to his church (Cristo de Limpia, in Corrales, between Egido and Monserrate). That's his church. I go there every Sunday and then take him all the religious literature -- and I haven't had a problem with that so far. Besides, he asks me to do it.

Interviewer - Books, other magazines?

Dulce Maria Amador - Books, magazines. I generally take him regular books, some historical, because he doesn't like to read garbage; yes, I do take him a lot of literature to keep him amused, particularly historical stuff. That's the literature he likes.

(Interview with Gisela Delgado, wife of Hector Palacios)

Interviewer - Gisela, have you been able to see your husband recently?

Gisela Delgado - I saw him yesterday. He's hospitalized at Pinar del Rio provincial facility, in the detention area, because he had a gallbladder operation on 19 February.

Interviewer - And, for example, he was operated on and received medical care.

Gisela Delgado - Well, I think that was the very right thing to do; it was only human for him to receive medical care.

Interviewer - And how was that medical care?

Gisela Delgado - I can't complain, because they were civilian doctors, although we know that the hospital was taken over by the police; they call it special troops. Security agents were present; there were many officers inside the operating room and also outside.

Interviewer - But you told me, indeed, that you had no complaints about the medical care.

Gisela Delgado - The medical care was good, I think, because of what I saw the doctors doing. I was able to talk to them, not because the police made it possible; it really wasn't that way. I arrived in Pinar del Rio and had to locate the doctor's house because I couldn't reach him at the hospital. And I was able to talk to the doctor before he was operated on.

Interviewer - And what did you talk to the doctor about?

Gisela Delgado - I mainly asked him about his health. We are not people to compromise others with our ideas. I mean, our ideas are ours. If you ask me, I tell you. It's not that I come up with something every now and then. And I asked him about his health, mainly, if he could take the operation and what the odds were.

Interviewer - And what did the doctor tell you?

Gisela Delgado - He told me that he didn't think that Hector was an exception in these cases; that his gallbladder was full of stones and that the operation was imminent because he had many small stones that could come out of the bile duct, out of the gallbladder and into any duct. The way my husband and I see it, we've been well taken care of by the orderlies, the nurses, the doctors.

Interviewer - Did you make any special request to that doctor when you talked to him?

Gisela Delgado - We know that here in Cuba that minimum access operation exists, that it was being performed in the province. The doctor in charge of the prison, Doctor Pozo, told me that it was being done in the province, that there was no need to transfer him to the City of Havana, that it was being done there and that they were going to try minimum access and refrain from the conventional operation in which the abdomen is cut up.

Interviewer - That is, the doctors agreed to use the minimum access technique.

Gisela Delgado - Yes, yes, there was a minimum access specialist. Doctor Dopico and Doctor Montes de Oca. I talked to them when they came out of the operating room. They told me that nothing had gone wrong, that the operation had taken an hour, that they had made it, that this posed no other serious risk to the internal organs, that what they saw as surgeons was that everything had gone well.

Interviewer - But the truth is that he's received good medical care and that you and your husband are grateful for that care. You were saying so a while ago.

Gisela Delgado - I guess I can't say the opposite because, above all, these people worked very well both humanely and professionally. It all seems that Hector's recovery is very good.

(Interview with Margarita Borges, wife of Edel Jose Garcia Diaz)

Interviewer - Maria Margarita, how many times have you visited Edel?

Maria Margarita Borges - Well, five visits as such.

Interviewer - Have you been allowed conjugal visits?

Maria Margarita Borges - Yes, conjugal visits are every five months and the visits every three months. Conjugal visits are every five months for three hours and the visits for two hours.

Interviewer - Do you take him anything to eat? Do they let you take it in? What can you take?

Maria Margarita Borges - Well, yes, so far I've had no problems with the things that I've been able to take to him.

Interviewer - And what's his medical care like now?

Maria Margarita Borges - Well, the medical care he's had has always been good; he's never complained of the treatment given by the doctors.

Interviewer - And what about the doctors' treatment towards you? Have they given you any explanations at all?

Maria Margarita Borges - Yes, so far the doctors have explained everything to me that relates to him. I even met with the psychiatrist that sees him in Santiago and she told me all about his situation. So far, the treatment that he's had from the doctors and stuff has been good.

Interviewer - What else have you been allowed to give or pass to him?

Maria Margarita Borges - The food and the toiletries. I've passed everything on to him. No problems there.

Interviewer - And what has he said to you? What has he told you about the treatment inside? Has he ever complained of abuse?

Maria Margarita Borges - Well, he's never complained of any abuse -- and the treatment to him and to myself so far has been respectful. He's never told me of any disrespectful treatment or anything. And, well, yes, it's only logical that he feels bad there, though the treatment is good, because, well, he's in jail -- and one of the reasons that I understand is that he shouldn't be in jail; that's what I think about this, right? But, well, so far the treatment has been good. There hasn't been any problem even when I've gone to see the head of the unit over any situation. The treatment has been good.

Interview - Hey, Maria Margarita, and, for example, when he has needed some medication, have they asked you for it, have they told you to buy it yourself?

Maria Margarita Borges - No, so far all medications he's needed have been supplied there.

Interviewer - Free of charge?

Maria Margarita Borges - Yes, free of charge. I've also taken some medications to him that they have allowed me to take through to him.

Interviewer - Do you know of any other health treatments or medical check-ups?

Maria Margarita Borges - Yes, as he's told me, they're constantly taking blood samples, weighing him, taking his blood pressure; he's been taken to the dentist, have had some teeth filled; so far that's what he's told me.

Interviewer - Well, how have you been treated when you've gone to see him in prison, when you've requested to see him?

Maria Margarita Borges - Well, I've never made any request to see him because so far I've made my visits every three months and, well, the treatment has been good. I've even had my doubts about something and I've called the head of the unit and told him and, well, so far they've respected me and I treat them with the same respect that I get from them.

(Interview with Ileana Marrero Jova, wife of Omar Rodriguez)

Interviewer - How's your husband? Have you been able to see him recently?

Ileana Marrero Jova - Yes, recently, I saw him on 14 February and he's in good health, considering the circumstances; his mood is all right, but, well, he's still detained there.

Interviewer - How often can you see him?

Ileana Marrero Jova - Every three months.

Interviewer - How are the officers taking care of him in prison?

Ileana Marrero Jova - His mood and health are fine. Well, they treat him well, with respect; so far, nothing major has happened; I don't know, they treat him well; for the time being, they're taking good care of him.

Interviewer - I want to know if you've found your husband tortured or physically injured.

Ileana Marrero Jova - No, I haven't found him physically injured, of course not.

(Interview with Beatriz del Carmen Pedroso Leon, wife of convict Julio Cesar Galvez Rodriguez)

Interviewer - How's your husband, Beatriz?

Beatriz del Carmen Pedroso Leon - My husband is fine, I see him fine. He had a gallbladder operation to remove a stone and I see him fine.

Interviewer - Has he been recovering all right?

Beatriz del Carmen Pedroso Leon - He's been recovering all right; he was operated on more than 48 hours ago and I see him all right, recovered, with good food and in a good mood; his high blood pressure has abated; he's sedated.

Interviewer - Have you been able to see him systematically all this time he's been in detention?

Beatriz del Carmen Pedroso Leon - Yes, I have, I've been able to see him; I've been allowed some visits and I've been able to see him and talk to him; the visits have been very fruitful because we've been able to share and exchange views and opinions -- and he's said no, even this time that I came I didn't have to bring him food; I brought him juice and stuff, but he had everything he needed.

Felipe Perez - Well, we told television stations that we will give them the cassette with these images. We will also give you the transcription of these interviews to the written press and we will give you the US resolution on Cuba document. I only have two question left, with all honesty and respect as always. I ask myself, why are testimonies like these never published? Why hasn't one media source been able to obtain one testimony of this nature, like the one Cuban journalists were able to obtain, not one time in the past year? I ask myself if it was because these people were inaccessible, they did not want to see the press? Why is the testimony of other people in the press every day? I ask myself and I ask you, why hasn't a testimony like this one been published? I'm not saying that the other ones shouldn't be published? The ones that say that there is no medical attention, that they are in dungeons. I agree that the other ones should be out there, my question is, why is this point of view never presented. I ask myself and I ask you, and you don't have to answer here. Just so intimately, with the confession pillow, you examine if Cuba is right when it says that there is a campaign; if Cuba has the reason or not to say that private media outlets, that obey specific interests, not Cuba's friends, want a distortional view to be presented.

I am not asking why the media is not favorable to Cuba. I am not claiming that. I do not ask for coverage that is friendly and pleasing to Cuba, I ask for objective and balanced coverage that presents this side of the coin. It was so easy for our journalists to go there and ask, with the report from a press agency, where were the names, which were supposedly the worse cases. Well, they tell me that some did not want to talk. That is correct, that is their right. But the question I leave afloat is: why hadn't a word been said in a whole year? Who has prohibited it? I know that correspondents would never present a maneuver where the truth does not come out. The question is: Why has this never come out?

This is not a scolding; this is a prayer to search for the truth.

The second question is: Can it be published now? Will these images be viewed as others have, every day, or at least once? In television channels? That is 19 minutes. After all the debate that has been going on. Wouldn't it be worthwhile to put 8 or 10 minutes in any television station in the world? Will it be done? Will it be give front page priority?

I'm going to give you the transcription in Spanish, English, and French, so that tomorrow this can be in the front page of a newspaper

Will editorials be written about the information that I have presented here? That is the question that I will leave afloat.

I will not continue complaining about what has happened in the past, I ask if after today it will be published, if it will come out into the light, if Cuba's truth will come out. Because truth should be the north of all compasses.

The truth is what the Cuban Revolution has brought up to now and will continue to take up to the victory over the blockade and the aggressions that have been carried out against our people.

Regularly I answer questions, but today, since I have been the one asking questions, I thank you all for coming. I think I have given you enough information. Thank you.

Journalist - Thank you Minister for your information.

(Description of Source: Havana Cubavision in Spanish -- Government owned, government-controlled television station)

Compiled and distributed by NTIS, US Dept. of Commerce. All rights reserved.

AFS Document Number: LAP20040329000007
City/Source: Havana Cubavision
FBIS Document Number: N/A
Geographic Names: Caribbean; North America; Cuba; United States
NewsEdge Document Number: 200403301477.1_b16b1cb023579c37
Original Source Language: Spanish
WNC Document Number: 0hve7yh00u1a1v
WNC Insert Date: March 30, 2004

World News Connection®
Compiled and distributed by NTIS. All rights reserved.
Dialog® File Number 985 Accession Number 187000596