Foundation for Pan-American Democracy Sounds Alarm Over Cuban Human Rights Violations

The Incidents Report Center of the Foundation for Pan-American Democracy (FDP) has released dismaying reports outlining the Cuban government’s myriad human rights violations in recent months. 

The FDP’s report claims over 500 different human rights violations occurred from September to November, including nearly 300 arbitrary detentions and tens of extrajudicial executions. 

One significant execution was that of political prisoner Manuel de Jesús Guillén Esplugas, who was reportedly beaten to death in a Cuban prison by government officials. 

Esplugas had promoted Cuba Decide, an organization seeking to end the nearly 70 years of tyrannical rule in Cuba. 

According to FDP Incidents Report Center Director Juan Carlos Vargas, the report demonstrates the “severity of human rights violations and the intensification of state violence against political opponents, which requires urgent attention from the international community.”

Florida lawmakers have routinely condemned Cuba‘s regime for it’s under democratic practices and repressive acts.

Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio previously characterized the Cuban government as “illegitimate.”

In a similar tone, US Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) claimed the Cuban government is responsible for “brutal harassment, beatings, and torture.”

Cuban citizens have attempted to resist the Cuban government to no avail. 

On July 11, 2021, thousands of Cubans took to the streets to protest the island’s civil, political, and economic decay at the hands of the Cuban regime.

However, the regime quashed the protests with brute force, arbitrary detentions, and internet and cell service blackouts.

US Representative Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), the only Cuban-born member of Congress, has described the Cuban government’s actions as “murderous.”

Last March, thousands of Cubans again publicly expressed their disdain for the present communist regime’s repression of fundamental freedoms and the island’s dire economic situation.

The Cuban government responded as expected, freezing cell phone service to stymie future protests and curtail ongoing ones. Daily blackouts and food shortages have plagued the nation for years while political dissenters are jailed and abused.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel blamed the ongoing US embargo for the crisis in his country and criticized US statements as “interventionist.”