UNPACU activist fined and threatened for picking up people at the airport

On 19th May 2015, Emilio Solá Vásquez, an activist with the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), was arrested while waiting for friends near the municipal airport. The activist was arrested by Officer Esteban Delfino, accompanied by Alfredo Oliveros, head of the opposition in the municipality, and by Reynaldo Rodríguez, sector chief of the Turey area. The activist was taken to the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) unit along with his car, which remained in the unit until the activist was released in the afternoon of 22nd May of the same year, after being interrogated by Liesner Leiva, lieutenant coronel and head of the Department of State Security (DSE) in the municipality. This officer wanted to know who was waiting for at the airport, the activist responded by saying that it was very clear to them that he used to go to the airport to pick up travelers and that he did not understand what the problem was or the reasons for his arrest. He was also threatened with having his car confiscated if he was seen with opponents in the car or "throwing tickets" (serving as a means of public transportation) without a license and was fined for throwing tickets. Even though he was not seen with passengers in the car either at the time of his arrest or before, he was fined for throwing tickets.