Being In Prison is Worth It

Being In Prison is Worth It / Angel Santiesteban
Posted on June 14, 2014

"Excuse me, but we have a writer who they say beat his wife. Of course
there is talk about him."

"Dude, do I look like a marriage counselor or something?"

"It's just that this writer is a dissident, you know?"

"Where is that abuser?!"

Seated in the door of my cabaña, many people ask me if it's worth being
a prisoner, and without doubt I say yes.

Here inside I see the internal and profound face of a society submerged
in the horror of survival. Furthermore, it permits me to do a unique
sociological study; it's an exceptional experience. Seen in this way the
suffering of confinement doesn't hurt. To this I add the use of time
spent in reading and writing.

I am sure that with my imprisonment the government, and particularly the
Castro brothers, are the ones who have been harmed the most, because
they left in evidence the credibility of the "reforms" that they wish to
sell. They showed how they try to deceive the world in order to obtain
financing for the ruined Cuban economy.

My truth and my rights are my armor, and with that I feel invincible
before the dictatorship; I also add my illusion that one day I'll know
who planned to silence and humble me, which, no doubt was thought up by
Raul Castro and his son, Alejandro, after my first "Open letter to Raul
Castro," which I wrote in November 2012. Also I'll know who covered up
the order, and those who have been willing accomplices in the cultural
milieu, and even those who – inside the same opposition – made a pact of
silence in exchange for some privilege.

What will be infallible is that sooner or later, all the truth that
today we can't even imagine will be known. Then it will be like opening
a book and seeing peoples' souls. That is my awesome tranquility, and
like the Arab, I sit in the door of my cabaña hoping to see the cadaver
of my enemies pass by. If before this I have to pay with my life, I
shall equally hope for it, because they will purge my death.

What's certain is that – in one way or another – they won't escape
paying for their injustice to me and to the hundreds of activists who
they have beaten, imprisoned and assassinated. The Castros know that
this moment is inevitable, and for that reason they are working now.
They are pretending to make a transition that apparently satisfies
"everybody" when Raul Castro leaves power, but they are leaving secure
the threads that move the country, in politics and economics, to avoid
being judged for crimes against humanity.

Ángel Santiesteban-Prats

Lawton prison settlement. May 2014.

Follow the link to ask Amnesty International to declare Angel a prisoner
of conscience.
https://secure.avaaz.org/es/petition/Para_que_Amnistia_Internacional_declare_prisionero_de_conciencia_al_disidente_cubano_Angel_Santiesteban/?fbss

Translated by Regina Anavy

9 June 2014

Source: Being In Prison is Worth It / Angel Santiesteban | Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/being-in-prison-is-worth-it-angel-santiesteban/