Cuban Authorities Block Seven Activists From Traveling to Mexico for Democracy Action Meeting

Cuban Authorities Block Seven Activists From Traveling to Mexico for
Democracy Action Meeting

14ymedio, Havana, 27 June 2017 – Cuban authorities blocked at least
seven activists from traveling to Cancun, Mexico this Monday, to
participate in the 4th Forum on Roads to a Democratic Cuba, a meeting of
the United Democratic Action Roundtable (MUAD) organized by the Konrad
Adenauer Foundation (KAS), according to blogger Regina Coyula speaking
to 14ymedio.

"When I arrived at the immigration window in Terminal 3 of Jose Marti
International Airport, they told me to step back and wait a minute" said
the activist. Then she was approached by an immigration official who,
after asking for her documents, informed her that there was "a ban on
travel abroad" in effect against her.

Coyula demanded explanations for the reasons she was prevented from
leaving, but the agent would only say that she "had nothing to do with
this" and told her if she wanted more information to visit the Office of
Attention to the Population near the Plaza of the Revolution.

The other activists who were not allowed to board the plane are Rafael
León Rodríguez, general coordinator of the Cuban Democratic
Project; Hildebrando Chaviano, director of the Center for Analysis of
Public Policies of Freedom and Development; Wilfredo Vallín and Amado
Calixto Gammalame, members of the Legal Association of Cuba; Erick
Álvarez, promoter of the CubaDecide initiative; and Alexei Gámez,
activist of the Somos+ (We Are More) Movement.

The practice of preventing dissidents from leaving the country has
become a repressive method of State Security in increasing use in recent
months.

In early 2013 a Migration Reform measure came into effect which
eliminated the "exit permit" required for travel abroad. In the first
ten months after the approval of the new measures, Cubans made more than
250,000 trips abroad. The opposition also benefited from this relaxation
of controls.

However, any time it likes the Government may invoke certain subsections
of article 25 of the new immigration regulations that prohibit departure
"for reasons of public interest or national security."

Travel bans are put into practice in a number of ways, including
preventing opponents from leaving their home, intercepting the vehicles
taking them to the airport, or notifying them at the immigration window
at the airport that they are forbidden to leave, as happened on Monday.

Source: Cuban Authorities Block Seven Activists From Traveling to Mexico
for Democracy Action Meeting – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cuban-authorities-block-seven-activists-from-traveling-to-mexico-for-democracy-action-meeting/