Courthouse Square

510 King Street, Suite 340

Aiexandria, Virginia 22314
P 703.566.3041
Global Liberty Alliance F 703.566.3972

Jason I. Poblete Garcia

Attorney and Counselor at Law

September 22, 2021

Most Eminent Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley, OEM CAP.

Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Center
66 Brooks Drive
Braintree, Massachusetts 02184

Your Eminence,

In our letter to you dated September 14, 2021, one of several items we addressed
was the plight of dissidents, political activists, and religious leaders of various faith and
belief backgrounds targeted by the Communist Party's Religion Police, the Office of
Religious Affairs (ORA). Based on several responses to this letter from colleagues and
friends in Cuba, 1 am writing to you once again.

Many people in Cuba want America to know there is only one political party in
Cuba, the Communist Party. According to Cuba's Constitution, the Party is the nation's
"vanguard" and the "superior driving force of the society." From conception until
death, the Party strips individuals of their fundamental God-given rights. The Party
uses the instruments of the state and rule by law to protect the socialist collective. As its
Constitution says, in the Party worldview, only with "socialism and communism," does
a person achieve full dignity in society.

As Pope John Paul II said, socialism treats individuals as "elements" or

"molecules," not human beings. It is a system that strips individuals of their free will
and the ability to choose between right and wrong. It is slavery. Pope John Paul II
stressed that socialism robs individuals of dignity "and hinders progress towards the
building up of an authentic human community." That there are people of faith in Cuba
is a miracle. The Catholic Church should stand up for them and, when possible,
confront the Party's evildoers head-on.

Under the Communist Party and its officials control Cuba; there is no space for
people of faith. FoRB communities are only marginally tolerated by the Party to provide
political cover as they advance the Party's long-term goal of building an atheist
Communist state. The Catholic Church knows this well. If the Party has its way, it will
obliterate all religious life in Cuba unless sanctioned by the state apparatus. It may not

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happen this year or five years from now, but it will happen if good people stand by and
say nothing, or worse, do things that make it seem as if we condone the Party's actions.
Reciprocity must be earned, never freely given.

During the Great Purge of the 1960s, lay and religious leaders were martyred,
religious schools confiscated, churches vandalized and shuttered, and people of faith
were cast out of dvil society. After the Great Purge, the Party developed and deployed
a sophisticated and even more pernicious system to control civil society. For FoRB
communities, the Central Committee of the Commrmist Party created the Office of
Religious Affairs (ORA), Cuba's Religion Police. This Stasi-like operation is responsible
for an untold number of crimes, including crimes against humanity.

The ORA, led by Ms. Caridad Diego Bello and her acolytes, spread throughout
the island gulag, keeping a dose eye on the FoRB communities. It is part of what
Cubans call "El Sistema" or "The System." The System is a repressive apparatus built
over decades to ensure cradle-to-grave adherence to sodalist values. Unlike the Great
Purge, where brute force was used to exact compliance, the System is a sophisticated
Stasi-like machine. As we outlined in fire September 14,2021 letter, led by Ms. Diego,
the ORA continues to threaten, intimidate, and persecute members of FoRB
communities throughout the island. People of faith face endemic persecution, including
physical and psychological torture, and if that fails, exile or death. There must be no
shipment of humanitarian aid to Cuba via the ORA or any entity connected to the Party
or the regime. It must go directly to the people.

U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom redpient Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet wrote an op
ed from the island published in the Wall Street Journal on September 20,2021.1 am
sharing it with you with his permission and that of his wife Elsa Morejon. In it, the
former political prisoner and Cuban dissident wrote, "In a country where the walls
have ears, it's easy to lose one's voice. But that is changing. The regime is weak, and the
people sense it. Two chants often heard during the protests were 'We are not afraid!'
and 'We are no longer afraid!' For decades, the best that many Cubans could hope for
was to escape. But now, more and more of us are taking responsibility for reshaping our
homeland."

You may be wondering why the Party's leaders granted you an audience during
your most recent visit to the island, especially as clergy and other Catholic faithful were
beaten and jailed during the July 11*^ protests and as the Party and regime institute
policies that are in direct contravention of Catholic doctrine and fundamental right to
life and freedom of belief and conscience. The primary reason Miguel Diaz-Canel met
Cardinal 0 'Malley/Cuba/September2021-2
Page 2 of 3.
 GLOBAL LIBERTY ALLIANCE

with you was to whitewash the image of the Party after the brutal July IP^ crackdown.
Yet, while he engaged with you, his henchmen, including ORA officials, were busy
persecuting people of faith, including many Catholic clergy and lay faithful, as well as
believers from other faith traditions. It continues to this day.

For example, various news outlets have reported, this past Sunday morning.
System supporters defamed the rectory of Fr. Rolando Montes de Oca of Camagiiey
with eggs and slurs. At least one priest in Cuba has been warned to stay quiet, and
another kept in legal limbo as his Bishop, perhaps coerced and intimidated by regime
officials, has been forced to instruct the priest not to make "too many waves." We have
other examples of Catholic Church persecution. Perhaps in a free Cuba, the Party, ORA,
and its officials will be held to account in a court of law. In the interim, responsible
nations and leaders must do so, while denying the Party and its official the legitimacy
that perpetuates their hold on power and their systematic violations of God-given
rights.

To advance the cause of liberty, justice, truth, and reconciliation, responsible

stakeholders should support the people of Cuba, not its oppressors. After July 11, as Dr.
Biscet says, the people of Cuba are ready to take responsibility for their political future.
America, including American Catholics, should side with the people and its leaders,
such as Dr. Biscet, not the regime. As requested in the past, please do all you can to help
secure the release of Americans unlawfully imprisoned in Cuba, such as Alina Lopez
from Miami, Florida, as well as dissidents and political prisoners. Most importantly,
keep the Catholic Church out of any Faustian bargains with the Party on remittances or
humanitarian aid. The people of Cuba want freedom, not charity.

Sincerely,

For th^lobal

Ijason llPobli
Presideht

Enclosure

JIP/gla2

Cardinal 0 'Malley/Cuba/September2021-2
Page 3 of 3.
9/20/21, 10:39 AM Cubans Want Freedom, Not Exile - WSJ
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/diaz-canel-cuba-havana-black-spring-protest-freedom-communism-biscet-human-rights-11632079329

OPINION | COMMENTARY

Cubans Want Freedom, Not Exile

Recent protests show the people’s resolve to end the communist dictatorship.

By Oscar Biscet
Sept. 19, 2021 4 22 pm ET

Anti-government protesters gathered at the Máximo Gómez monument in Havana, July 11.
PHOTO: ELIANA APONTE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Havana

In 2010 Cuba’s Castro regime began releasing journalists and human rights activists, most
of whom it had imprisoned seven years earlier during the Black Spring crackdown on
political dissent. Upon release, most of the prisoners were exiled to Spain. But I refused to
accept exile as the price of freedom. My refusal cost me another year in prison, but has
since allowed me to witness courage and hope take root in a nation long mired in fear and
despair.

In Cuba, there is no freedom of speech or assembly. Those who dare to speak out against
the government’s abuses risk detention and worse.

That is why it was so inspiring to see the antigovernment protests that erupted
spontaneously this summer throughout Cuba. Tens of thousands of my countrymen in

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9/20/21, 10:39 AM Cubans Want Freedom, Not Exile - WSJ

more than 60 cities and towns participated. Most weren’t human rights advocates or
democracy activists. They were ordinary Cubans: men and women; white, black and
mestizo; young and old; rural and urban.

Everyone seems to know someone who protested—a family member, neighbor, friend or
coworker. This has helped expose the government’s ridiculous lie that the protesters were
U.S.-financed mercenaries.

The Cuban government responded as insecure, authoritarian police states do—with

violence. Miguel Díaz-Canel, the head of Cuba’s government, issued commands for
citizens to “battle” the protesters and urged communist loyalists to violently “defend” the
revolution. “We call on all revolutionaries across the country, all communists, to take to
the streets,” he said in a nationally televised address. “The order for combat has been
given.”

Cuban security forces and civilian communists beat many protesters with clubs and
sticks. By one estimate, more than 700 people are still being detained by the government,
and perhaps dozens who were apprehended remain unaccounted for.

I asked friends across Cuba about their experiences with the protests. Several described
seeing heavily armed, black-clad troops from the ministry of the interior raid their
neighborhoods as if fighting a military insurgency.

A friend from San Antonio de Los Baños, the city south of Havana where the protests
began, described walking into the streets to protest alone, then meeting a friend who
joined him in shouting “Freedom!” and other antigovernment slogans. As they
approached a park at the city center, they were encouraged to find “a rebellious crowd
shouting against the regime.”

A friend from Bauta, a small town west of Havana, said at first he was hesitant to join
because one of his three children had Covid-19 and he didn’t want to infect anyone. But
thoughts of his children’s future made him reconsider. “I felt pleased with myself [for
participating],” he said, adding ruefully, “Now I can die.”

What exactly are Cubans protesting? Many media outlets have focused on the
government’s poor response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the dismal state of the Cuban
economy and the lack of medicine and basic food. But this is misleading. The protests are
fundamentally about repression. The protesters are demanding accountability and

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9/20/21, 10:39 AM Cubans Want Freedom, Not Exile - WSJ

transparency from an autocratic, secretive government. They are demanding freedom of

the press and religion from a regime built on propaganda and intolerant atheism. Put
simply, the protests are a manifestation of the Cuban people’s resolve to end the 62-year-
old communist dictatorship. According to one study, 74% of the protests were primarily
related to political and civil rights, while the remaining 26% had to do with the economy.

The Castro regime modeled the Cuban government on the Soviet Union, and it was
subsidized by the latter until its demise. Just like the U.S.S.R., Havana tries to control
every aspect of its subjects’ lives. It’s an Orwellian state where citizens have been
conditioned to distrust one another. Despair hangs heavy in the air. Even a whisper
against the government can provoke harassment, beatings, detention and job loss, as it
did for me, a physician, and my wife, Elsa, a nurse, after we began speaking out decades
ago against the regime’s abuses.

In a country where the walls have ears, it’s easy to lose one’s voice. But that is changing.
The regime is weak, and the people sense it. Two chants heard often during the protests
were “We are not afraid!” and “We are no longer afraid!” For decades, the best that many
Cubans could hope for was to escape. But now, more and more of us are taking
responsibility for reshaping our homeland.

The protests have subsided for now, but the resolve to bring about a better life has been
kindled in the hearts of the Cuban people. We won’t turn back. We are on the right path
and the winds are in our favor.

Dr. Biscet is a physician and human-rights advocate.

Appeared in the September 20, 2021, print edition.

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