RAFAEL IBARRA ROQUE, POLITICAL PRISONER Biographical data Rafael Ibarra Roque was born on June 4, 1959 in the Baraguá farm, in Diezmero, San Miguel del Padron, Havana, Cuba. He was cofounder of the Democratic Party 30 of November  “Frank Pais” in September, 1991 being it’s Vice-president. At the following year, when Jesus Canoura its founder president left Cuba in 1992 Ibarra took his post as President. This brought upon him a fierce persecution from the State Police being arrested  on June 17, 1994  and accused of sabotage, charge he always denies and did not was proved in court. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. After some time in the frightful State Security headquarter of Villa Marista, Rafael Ibarra was transferred to the “Combinado del Este” prison. Some time later he was transferred to Kilo 8 prison in Camagüey province near 300 kilometers from Havana, a prison of maximum security. In that jail he  was put in isolated dungeon  without sun nor medical treatment during a year. Toward the end of 1999 he was returned again to the headquarter of Villa Marista State Security police and from there to the prison of maximum security “Combinado del Este”  in Havana, where he is purging its unjust sentence of 20 years, only for wanted democracy for his country. Bellow an interesting article about Rafael Ibarra THE FORGOTTEN       By Onilda A. Jimenez In today’s world, no one doubts the power of the press, which has also been known as “the fourth power.”  That power has been used in the case of Cuban political prisoners.  For many years, hardly any news of Cuba filtered out through the iron curtain that encircled the island.  It was a time when the exiled Cubans were not permitted to visit Cuba and the visits of foreigners was very limited, that is, there was no tourism, a time when direct telephone communication (expenses for such calls had to be borne by the those contacted in Cuba and who were cut off when something was said which was considered inconvenient). Even the simple act of foreign correspondents reporting political events (even though very limited as it is today) was considered extraordinary. From the well-known case of Heberto Padilla towards the end of the 1960, to the group of 75 in 2003, the press has fulfilled its mission of presenting the truth so that governments and international organizations concerned with human rights can take proper action. But here is the problem, the tragic reality.  Those who receive the publicity, the complex mass of protests in the press, radio, television, satellite information, those who struggle in the noble fight in the parliaments of the world, in academic circles, and in international organizations, are the poets and the journalists.  Most certainly other distinguished Cubans like Marta Beatriz Roque, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, and Oswaldo Paya have gained the attention of the press for their indisputable leadership, but the exception does not do away with the validity of the rule that a small (reduced) group merits the attention of the world.   After Padilla, who was able to leave the country thanks to the international scandal and efforts of Edward Kennedy, came other poets:   Armando Valladares, who wrote the book of of poetry, From My Wheelchair, widely published throughout the world; Jorge Valls, author of a book of poems, Where I Am is not Light and it is Barred, and a dramatic work, The Wild Dogs;  Ernesto Diaz Rodriguez, author of a book of poems The Bell of Dawn and the work of prose, Urgent Testimony; Angel Cuadra’s Impromtus and a Correspondence of  Poems; Miguel Sales with his From Behind Bars and perhaps some more up to Raul Rivero, of the group of 75.            With the exception of this last one, all the others in jail wrote their books which were smuggled out and published outside the country where they received much publicity and the sympathy of the public. Politicians like Edward Kennedy and Francois Mitterand and organizations like Amnesty International and Pen Club International, among others, served as their sponsors.             Do my words serve as a catalyst for the protests that have taken place all around the World?  Assuredly not. That we can have the capacity to denounce injustice, outrage, the bestial regime of Cuba, seems a very formidable and plausible weapon to me.  What pains me, is that the others are forgotten, the humble, those who were not favored by Apollo, the simple prisoners of conscience, the country people, workers, who even though not formally educated, fought against Communism with titanic valor, their hearts burning with love for Cuba.  Incapable of writing a poem, they, nonetheless, are capable of  those acts which tell the story of the fight in the evil period of our history. Hundreds are forgotten, only names on an Amnesty International list of prisoners of  conscience or those who simply don’t even appear there, but only one now is mentioned and who will represent all of them.  His name is Rafael Ibarra Roque who has been  imprisoned, not for one or two years but for eleven years, since June 17, 1994. Ibarra was born at the time of the revolution, in June 1959.   He was destined, because of his age, to be a product of the “new man,” whom the Communists tried to form, a type of robot who would respond to all their commands. The ambience in which he was immersed, along with his schooling, books, the press, television, were geared toward indoctrination.   Nevertheless, he was impenetrable to deceptive messages.  At a young age, he showed signs of thinking for himself and of his love for liberty, like something inherent in a human being, and his love of democracy as a political system. This is a trait of Cuban country folk, who have a glorious history in the wars of independence and who were the first to rebel against Castro.  Suffice to say that it took thousands of men and huge quantities of resources for the tyrant to wipe out the guerrillas of Escambray.    Ibarra helped found the Democratic Party 30 of November in the 1990s and became its president.  The organization of political parties and independent organizations on the margin of the law, under persecution and terror like that which has existed and still exists in Cuba, is extremely risky and merits the recognition and sympathy of everyone. His new position as head of the Party placed him under the scrutiny of the authorities, who quickly found a pretext for jailing him. They accused him of sabotage, which they were never able to prove, and of which he declared his innocence.   Nonetheless, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1994.  Apparently the sentencing of an innocent person is but a game or something similar to counting sheep before going to sleep. The calvary of this sincere married man, who worked on his farm in San Miguel del Padron, began from the time he was detained at Villa Marista for several months for interrogation.  While there, he was tortured so he would declare himself guilty of sabotage, which he did not commit, given that the party he represents is pacifist and is against terrorism.  He lost 50 pounds because of  this.    From Villa Marista, he was transferred to Combinado del Este Prison.   Do you know why he was condemned to solitary confinement?  For having wounded a guard?  For having a concealed weapon or attempting to escape?  No, even though these are valid reasons when one has an unjust sentence.   He was condemned for having kept in his cell a copy of information from the Special Investigator of the United Nations! At the end of one year in Combinado, he was transferred as a reprisal for his rebelliousness to Prison Kilo 8 in Camaguey, 400 kilometers from Havana, where family visits are extremely difficult to make.  This maximum security prison is popularly known as “I Lost the key.”     Ibarra, tied hand and foot, forced out of his cell in Combinado del Este by Yudokan  guards, and who was terribly abused in Kilo 8, kept his principles intact.  Presently, he is back in Combinado del Este.   He has been a victim of all kinds of torture, physical as well as pyschological.  These have been denounced by him and his party in letters written to Castro.  Copies, smuggled out of prison so that the entire world know about the horrors of Cuba, have not even been  answered by the tyrant . Among the psychological tortures he mentions in one of these letters is the promise of freedom, and of being sent to Spain with his family.   For more than eight months, they assured him that he had been given his freedom while the authorities pretended to take his photos and have his passport in order.  They lied to him, saying that they had the visas for Spain and the required permissions for him and his family to leave the country.   His tormentors made fun of him by taking him to say goodbye to his mother. Such a cruel farce, in which various lieutenants of State Security participated, ended when his family was informed, finally, that the visas and passports had not been approved. His tortures range from the “most refined and elaborate,” but designed to destroy  his hope, intensify his desperation, similar to what I have mentioned previously, to the most vulgar (shameful), like the physical attacks and the sacking of his farm Baragua.  When the Communist authorities did not find any counter-revolutionary contraband, the helped themselves to everything of value:  from family jewelry to chickens and sheep. His family, his friends, and his party have not forgotten him. But his case, like the majority of cases, has not merited the attention of the international media.  Castro flatters politicians while promising to hand over a prisoner of conscience, poet or journalist, as a “gift” in order to maintain good relations with them.   What are those unfortunates, to whom God has denied the talent of  being able to write a single verse, to do?  Should Ibarra and others like him simply complete their 20-year condemnations without even being able to see their children who are living outside the country? I advise people to write something, whatever, and the more illogical, strange, unintelligible and absurd the better.   In this way, they might impress some who might consider them poets.  This is what many of the “poets” of Castroland do.  They roam around God’s world like others who are flattered and even given literary prizes.  What our Spanish ancestors for many centuries called  “meter gato por liebre”. But it does not matter because, as Machiavelli said “the end justifies the means”, and  much more if this end is liberty. *  Onilda A. Jiménez, an exemplary Cuban, has dedicated her life to education, writing, and to her country.   She holds a Doctorate in Philosophy and Literature, and a Licentiate in Diplomatic and Consular Rights from the University of Havana.   She graduated with a Master of Arts Degree from Columbia University and a Doctorate in Spanish  Literature from New York University.   She has given conferences in various cultural centers and has published very important books such as Literary Critique in the Work of Gabriela Mistral,    The Woman in Marti,  The Last Warrior and Travel Plan of a Destiny.  Return to Genesis,  and  Investigations Into Hispanoamerican Literature and Culture. She is the Editor of a bilingual anthology of poety and prose, En Camino / On the Road. She resides in North Bergen, New Jersey, and is the Director of Human Rights for the Revolutionary Movement 30 of November “Frank Pais.”