Miami
Defiant Cuban dissident Guido Sigler arrives in Miami
By Juan Carlos Chavez
jcchavez@ElNuevoHerald.com
Guido Sigler Amaya, one of 12 former political prisoners who opted to
stay in Cuba after their release from prison earlier this year, arrived
Tuesday at Miami International Airport determined to continue his
opposition to the island nation's regime and denouncing the abuses of
the Castro brothers.
Sigler, 58, was greeted by friends, family members and Cuban exiles amid
shouts of "Down with dictatorship!" and "Down with the Castro murderers!"
"I have come from Cuba with the same idea of continuing to defend human
rights," Sigler said. "And from here I tell my Cuban brothers to
continue fighting to overthrow the dictatorship that oppresses Cuba. We
are going to continue fighting for our country's freedom, the freedom
they have taken away from us."
Sigler, along with other well-known dissidents like Oscar Elías Biscet,
decided to continue his political activism in Cuba while other political
prisoners who had been released departed for Spain. He decided to leave
for the United States in the face of continued hostility from the
government and police.
Two months ago he signed the Declaration of Unity, which asks Cuban
dissidents to unite around key points such as fighting without violence
and respecting human rights, pressing for moves toward democracy and
calling for the unity of all Cubans regardless of where they live.
He also has called for a modern economy that would move away from
central planning.
Sigler is one of the 75 dissidents and independent journalists convicted
in 2003 during the repression wave known as the "Black Spring," a Castro
government plan to silence critical voices and petitions for free elections.
"I feel very happy to be in the country of freedom," he said Tuesday,
draped in a Cuban flag. "I am a patriot trying from here to help Cuba to
be free."
His brothers and former political prisoners Ariel and Miguel greeted him
at the airport.
"Eight years ago we hardly had any communication, and now the entire
family is very happy to have him among us," Ariel Sigler said.
Ariel Sigler arrived in the United States in July 2010 in a wheelchair
after being released from prison due to frail health. In Miami he spent
several weeks at the Jackson Memorial Hospital suffering from
polyneuropathy, which he overcame with a daily rehabilitation program
and intensive care.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/08/2493663/defiant-cuban-dissident-guido.html
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