Publisher of ‘Coexistence’ is Incommunicado in State Security Headquarters

Publisher of 'Coexistence' is Incommunicado in State Security
Headquarters / 14ymedio, Mario Penton

14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 21 January 2017 — The editor of the
magazine Convivencia (Coexistence), the economist Karina Galvez, is
still being held incommunicado 24 hours after a spectacular police raid
on her home in Pinar del Río.

Gálvez is accused of tax evasion, something that the editorial team of
the Coexistence Study Center precluded in a press release.

"Karina has no business, nor is she self-employed in her work, nor does
she work for the Cuban state," says the letter signed by the team of the
first think tank in the western part of the island.

The members of Convivencia explain that the accusation refers to the
sale of Galvez's home: "All the transactions carried out in 2014 are in
order and all corresponding tax payments have been made."

According to the note, the detainee is being advised by the team of
lawyers of the International Legal Consultancy in Pinar del Río.

Karins Gálvez's house is sealed and friends and relatives are prohibited
from entering. According to the official who identified herself as Major
Odalys, the house is "occupied" and Galvez will be held incommunicado
for seven days, after which she may receive a visit to give her personal
cleanliness supplies.

"They have not taken anything from the house, what they have done is
pasted on the doors and the garage papers handwritten in ink," Yoandy
Izquierdo, a member of the editorial team 'Coexistence', told 14ymedio.

According to Izquierdo, after a week, police and state security
officials will determine whether they will impose "a precautionary
measure, bail or imprisonment."

The break-in of Galvez's house came within a few hours of the
inauguration of the new interior minister, Julio César Gandarilla, who
exercises command of the National Revolutionary Police and State
Security forces.

Dagoberto Valdés Hernández, director of the Coexistence Study Center,
has highlighted the increase in repressive actions against the center,
which has no political affiliation.

"This is part of the harassment that the Study Center has been suffering
intensely for months. I was warned that life would be more difficult
for us and we are not in a time of maintaining alternative positions,"
Valdes said in a telephone conversation with 14ymedio.

"What they have done to Karina Gálvez is a clear violation of human
rights and it seems to concern the production of thought for the future
of the country, when precisely what we Cubans need sit down around the
table and discuss how we can solve the serious problems our nation is
experiencing," he added.

On Christmas Eve, Galvez had been summoned to the Department of
Immigration and Immigration (DIE) where she was questioned about her
travels outside Cuba.

Valdés himself underwent an intense interrogation last October when she
was told that her academic activity represented a danger.

On November 25, State Security banned a meeting of the Center that was
intended to address the issue of culture and education in the future of
Cuba.

"The repressive wave grows and spreads like we have never seen. We are
very worried and we want to make a warning call," said Valdés.

Source: Publisher of 'Coexistence' is Incommunicado in State Security
Headquarters / 14ymedio, Mario Penton – Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/publisher-of-coexistence-is-incommunicado-in-state-security-headquarters-14ymedio-mario-penton/