The statement, sent April 30 from Havana's public library, reads in part: “No Cuban librarian, no graduate of any of our Cuban library schools, nor any librarian or paraprofessional who currently or ever has worked in the Cuban library and information system has been detained.” The letter goes on to claim that those arrested were funded by various U.S. government agencies. (Translation provided by Larry Oberg, director of the Willamette University library in Salem, Oregon.)
The pro-democracy independent libraries are usually operated out of activists' homes and offer some materials said not to be available in Cuban public libraries.
The names of the independent librarians arrested are listed on the website of the Friends of Cuban Libraries, a nonprofit organization run by Robert Kent in New York City dedicated to promoting intellectual freedom in Cuba. One of the group's members claims to have seen two indictments that “specifically accuse defendants of operating libraries containing 'subversive' books.”
The April 8 New York Times reported that about 80 people were arrested on an islandwide sweep that has been condemned by Human Rights Watch and other rights groups. Cuban courts handed out prison terms of up to 27 years to dozens of the dissidents.
Posted May 5, 2003.