San Juan, August 24 (RHC)-- The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) unleashed Monday a harassment spree on members of the Juan Rius Rivera Brigade. They were in Cuba in July as a gesture of solidarity with the Revolution.
The president of the Cuba Solidarity Committee (CSC) in Puerto Rico, Milagros Rivera, told Prensa Latina that agents of the U.S. political police went to the residences of different brigade members to question them informally.
Given the stance of the members of the organization that for the last three decades has defied the U.S. Blockade on Cuba and its people, the FBI agents tried to know details of the visit, the first after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rivera explained that the police officers even tried to obtain information from a minor who traveled with her mother as part of the Juan Rius Rivera Brigade, which they failed to do.
Several lawyers have been activated to address the situation, as it is feared that a repressive raid will be unleashed against the brigadistas.
Rivera indicated that this could be a response to pressures from elements of the Cuban ultra-right, given a CSC campaign to obtain funds to acquire medical supplies to send to Cuba in the aftermath of the tragedy that occurred at the Supertanqueros Base in the western city of Matanzas when lightning struck an oil tank.
"We do not rule out anything since it would not be the first time that the federal court in Puerto Rico activates a grand jury to persecute pro-independence supporters," Rivera said.
The CSC Brigades Commission has consulted with several lawyers and directors of the Comité Pro Derechos Humanos (CPDH) of Puerto Rico about the FBI's actions, who recommended not to engage in dialogue with the agents who show up at their homes.
"The empire wants to create a new wave of persecutions and tries to divert attention from the outrage in Puerto Rico with the privatizations," he said.
Rivera said that they will not back down in their struggle in solidarity with Cuba, its people, and its Revolution, in addition to sowing awareness in the Puerto Rican people that "we are a Caribbean nation intervened 124 years ago by the United States".
