Free Republic

HAVANA (AP) - Cuba's high court has upheld the 20-year sentence of independent journalist Raul Rivero, who was among 75 Cubans sentenced to prison in a crackdown on the opposition this year, Rivero's wife said Monday. The prison terms ranged from six to 28 years and have been condemned by governments and human rights organization around the globe. The Cuban government has defended the crackdown as a necessary defense against U.S. attempts to change the island's socialist system. Blanca Reyes said her husband's defense attorney told her Monday that her husband's appeal had been rejected by the Supreme Tribunal, the...

RAUL RIVERO, Cuba's foremost independent journalist and one of its best poets, knew for years that he could be arrested at any moment by Fidel Castro's police, simply because he dared to report and write freely about his country. But he refused to be intimidated. "Nobody, no law, can make me take on the mentality of a gangster or other criminal simply because I report the arrest of a dissident or bring to light the prices of the basic alimentary products for survival in Cuba or edit a note saying that it seems like a disaster to me that more...

A Cuban court has sentenced dozens of prominent dissidents to heavy jail sentences of up to 25 years. Among those convicted is opposition leader Hector Palacios, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The poet/journalist Raul Rivero and the economist Marta Beatriz Roque both received 20-year sentences. They were all found guilty of subversion against the government. The prosecution demanded life sentences for some of the accused. The convicts were among the 78 people arrested during the past few weeks in a major crackdown by police. The international community has strongly condemned the arrests. The relatives of the suspects...