ACTS OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IN HAVANA LAUNCH THE THIRD PHASE OF “WITH THE SAME CURRENCY” CAMPAIGN

Latin American Federation of Rural Women

FOR INMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION: JUNE 25, 2008 FOR MORE INFORMATION:
MAGDELIVIA HIDALGO
305-781-4995
ACTS OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE IN HAVANA LAUNCH THE THIRD PHASE OF "WITH THE
SAME CURRENCY" CAMPAIGN

Havana, June 25, 2008. Yesterday, activists from different organizations
carried out acts of civil disobedience in the city, to launch the third
phase of the "With the Same Currency" campaign. The actions were carried
out at the "Lava Dia" restaurant located on Malecón street between
Campanario and Manrique streets, Centro Habana municipality. Four
couples of activists entered the government-run establishment, ordered
food and refused to pay in CUC (Cuban Convertible Peso), demanding their
right to pay with the national currency, the Cuban peso, the currency in
which Cuban workers are paid. The management of the restaurant called
the police and Lazaro Joaquín Alonso Román, Alfredo Montana Ramos,
Yoriet Cabrera and Roberto de Jesus Guerra Pérez were arrested. They
were all taken to a nearby police station , where they were threatened
with being held until paying the amount owed to the restaurant in CUC.
The activists refused to comply and were finally set free at 1:00 am on
Wednesday, June 25.
As of this writing, the whereabouts of Julio Beltrán Iglesias, another
activist that refused to surrender his video camera to the police after
filming images of the civic protest, are unknown. Mr. Beltrán threw the
camera to the sea when the police tried to force him to surrender it. At
2 pm Juan del Pilar Joerna, a human rights observer who was monitoring
the event, was also arrested. He was taken to the Zanja police station,
where he was questioned, searched and detained for four hours.
"With these civil disobedience actions we are launching the third phase
of the With the Same Currency campaign", stated a communiqué issued in
Havana by the Federation of Latin American Rural Women (FLAMUR in
Spanish). "We have decided to claim our true national sovereignty, which
comes from the right of every Cuban to have control of their own lives,
without interference from government. Inspired by Rosa Parks, Martin
Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Lech Walesa and others who refused to
comply with unjust laws to fight for the rights of their own people, we
are saying NO to the economic apartheid that we suffer in our own land
as Cubans"
"These activists have not committed any crime. They did not refuse to
pay, but rather just demanded their right to pay with the currency in
which salaries are paid. The government is the one acting illegally,
because on November 21, 2007, FLAMUR delivered 10,738 signatures to the
National Assembly in support of the With the Same Currency Campaign,
according to the current regime's legislation. Today we have
demonstrated that we are organized and committed to our cause", declared
in Miami Magdelivia Hidalgo, FLAMUR's International Representative.
Francos 404 apt. 5 entre Clavel y Santa Marta, Centro Habana, Ciudad
Habana, Cuba phone: 79-1793 e-mail: flamurinternacional@yahoo.com