UNPACU activist from Baracoa is threatened by CDR members

On June 8, 2020 in the afternoon, the activist of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) Geovanny Viquillon Trutie was threatened and psychologically abused by the president of the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) of the neighbourhood where the activist lives, Arturo Campo Delgado and CDR member Ernesto Cardoza Merino. These two, in addition to being members of the CDR, also lead the Rapid Response Brigade of the Popular Council to which their CDR belongs. Geovanny has been subjected to these threats due to the activism and rebellious behaviour that he has maintained not only in his neighbourhood, but also in the municipality. Geovanny has been arbitrarily detained by PNR officials on many occasions for the sole fact of not accepting the impositions of State Security and the National Revolutionary Police (PNR). The regime has been violating article # 19 of the Declaration of Human Rights which says that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This right includes the right not to be targeted because of one’s opinions, to be able to freely disseminate information by any medium. State Security, through PNR officials, has tried to silence this activist with threats of being imprisoned, being physically assaulted, and with other repressive methods, such as expelling members of his family from their center of work, supposedly for offering him moral support. The State Security also violated article # 20, since the political police forced him not to participate in the meetings of the cell to which he belongs. The regime has also used different methods to force him to leave the UNPACU.