Prison Diary XIII. They have dubbed me "Mandela." I have started to be their hope.

Prison Diary XIII. They have dubbed me "Mandela." I have started to be
their hope.
Posted on April 17, 2013

The 5 spies, who committed bloody acts and spied for a foreign country,
have not been punished like they do with any prisoner in Cuba. Here they
humiliate and constantly harass them.

They, the Castros, say that at the Guantanamo Naval Base they commit
horrors, but they don't say what they know because they commit the same
abuses they "denounce" daily.

Here the prisoners swallow nails, springs or pieces of spoons to demand
their rights, or at least have the opportunity to explain to someone.

Amused, I always have to laugh and respond to my new name, no matter how
many times I tell them to call me Ángel or Political — like they used to
— but they have baptized me Mandela. I have begun to be their hope
despite finding me isolated, although without them letting the two
prisoners who helped me get even to the door of my cell; I'm totally
isolated.

I asked for my glasses and they also refused me. The only thing I can do
is write on the walls, except that there is less space left, and I'll
have to figure out how to reach the ceiling; I'll have to do something
about it. Writing is a mania, a necessity and a duty. When they searched
me on my arrival, twelve guards commanded by Major Erasmus did it. And
I told them that my weapons were in my mind and they couldn't get them
out of there.

I thank God for giving me the protection and constant companion in my
lonely hours, but I'm also grateful to be here, they provide me
Literature and complaints against the regime.

God, forgive the dictators and their henchmen.

Ángel Santiesteban-Prats
1580 Prison. April 2013.

Editor's Note: Ángel Santiesteban-Prats finishes on his ninth day of a
hunger strike today."

http://translatingcuba.com/prison-diary-xiii-they-have-dubbed-me-mandela-i-have-started-to-be-their-hope-2/