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Cuban Embassy attracts one man protest
Jailed: Calixto Martinez
By Abena Rockcliffe
A one man protest was staged yesterday at the Cuban Embassy on Main Street where Social and Political Activist, Mark Benschop, registered his disapproval about the “unjustified” imprisonment of a Cuban Journalist, Calixto Martinez.
Benschop said that he feels the government is turning a blind eye to the wrongdoings of Cuba and of the Chinese who reside in Guyana because Guyana depends on China and Cuba.
Calixto Martinez is an independent Cuban journalist who was jailed by the regime on September 16.
The man was arrested during a period where he had been reporting about a then new outbreak of Cholera in the east of Cuba.
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that causes excessive diarrhea. However, the illness has resulted in reported cases of fatality.
The Cuban government officially claimed that after a short period last year, the illness was already eradicated off the island.
Martinez had discovered five tons of humanitarian aid sent to Cuba by the World Health Organization (WHO), which was left to spoil at Havana’s airport.
There were 417 cases of persons diagnosed with Cholera in Cuba during that period; of those, three fatalities were officially reported.
However, for doing his report, the journalist was accused of being disrespectful to former leader of the country Fidel Castro and his brother, President Raul Castro. He faces, up to three years in prison.
Yesterday Benschop, alone, picketed the Cuban embassy with a poster that indicated his concern about the imprisoned journalist.
He told Kaieteur News that he can empathize with Martinez as he found himself in a similar situation before.
Benschop was jailed for five years on a charge of treason. He was freed by President Bharrat Jagdeo.
“I know what it feels like to be locked up for standing up for what is right, I know what it feels like to be taken advantage of by a corrupt regime. But it is more than that; it is about the right of democracy,” Benschop told Kaieteur News.
He said, “The man’s rights were violated; he did nothing wrong but yet remains locked up, just because of a point of view.”
Benschop said, “I am hurt to know that my country would support such violations of human rights.
It is my opinion that Guyana should not be supporting such lack of democracy, but birds of a feather flock together and the government goes to Cuba with a begging bowl so they can’t say anything, just like the situation with the Chinese.”
“The man wrote articles on corruption and he got locked up. The government had issued a statement saying that it cannot get involved in the internal affairs of Cuba but the other day they condemned Israel.
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