TESTIMONY FROM JUAN CARLOS GONZALEZ LEIVA - FEBRUARY 21,2006

CUBA: BLIND ACTIVIST AND PRESIDENT OF THE CUBAN FOUNDATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IS BEING SERIOUSLY THREATENED

February 21, 2006.

JUAN CARLOS GONZALEZ LEIVA, a blind Cuban lawyer and civic activist; president of the Cuban Foundation for Human Rights, today denounced from his home in the city of Ciego de Avila, that almost every day Cuban State Security is sending him "messages" with strangers who request membership in the Cuban Foundation for Human Rights, that he will soon suffer another violent act of repudiation. Rubber tubes and cables were given to Gonzalez Leiva by these strangers, as proof of the knowledge they have that he will soon be violently attacked in another act of repudiation being prepared against him.

This blind lawyer recently had to give away a dog he had acquired to protect himself since there was evidence the animal was going to be poisoned.

Gonzalez Leiva continues very active, providing support to the human rights movement in Cuba, denouncing the savage attacks committed by the political police against activists, independent journalists, and their families throughout the island. Those dissidents in the eastern provinces where there are no foreign embassies and press to protect them, suffer the most.

In mid January, Gonzalez Leiva's house was under military seige for several days, where he remained confined without any water, electricity or telephone service. Mobs of up to 400 people brought by State Security surrounded his home, screaming governmental slogans, committing acts of vandalism, and beating activists. These violent assaults by Cuban State Police are widespread throughout the island; committed against those who express independent ideas.

Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva is proud of and determined to continue his peaceful activism and alerts the international community that anything that happens to him is the responsibilty of Cuban State Security, Cuban Military and the Cuban goverment.

THOSE WHO STRUGGLE ON BEHALF OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CUBA ARE SUFFERING A VIOLENT WAVE OF REPRESSION THAT DEMANDS THE ONGOING SOLIDARITY AND COMMITTMENT OF THE FREE WORLD.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva - Address - Honorato del Castillo 154/ entre Republica y Cuba. Ciego de Avila, Cuba. Tel: + 53-33-222235

Testimony of Juan Carlos González Leiva obtained from Cuba. translated to English by the Coalition of Cuban-American Women in the United States. Telephone: 305-662-5947 / Fax: 305-740-7323. E-mail: Joseito76@aol.com