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Political Prisioner In Cuba
Tuesday, April 12, 2005   By: Juan Paxety

He's denied that final piece of paper

Here's an example of life in Cuba - something the New York Times (The Granma of the North) would not understand. Vanessa Arrington reports for the AP that Jorge Olivera has wanted to leave Cuba for years, but fidel won't let him go.

Olivera is an independent journalist.  He had gotten a U.S. visa in 2002, and was prepared to leave for this country. Then, in March 2003, fidel rounded up 75 dissidents and threw them in prison.  Olivera was one of them.

He served 21-months and was released in December because he was suffering colon problems. What happened to the Cuban health care system? Read the letter written by Dr. Hilda Molina regarding the real healthcare system on the island. Olivera has his U.S. Visa and political refugee papers, but fidel won't give him the required exit permit.

 "It's like I'm still jailed," Olivera told journalists Monday. "Here I am still, deprived of my rights."

Olivera says he thinks his paperwork is being delayed because he's a dissident.  The Cuban officials, though, say everyone is treated equally inhumanely.

 But a Cuban official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said it is not unusual for immigration procedures to take longer than expected. Because Olivera's request for an exit permit has not been flatly denied, the case should eventually be resolved, the official said.

Olivera says he's given everything he can to Cuba - it's time for him to leave.

 

 

 

  



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