Letter from María Cristina Garrido Rodríguez, for Everyone.

María Cristina Garrido Rodríguez.

Letter I. (photo of the original at the end).

Women's Prison of Western Cuba, El Guatao, La Lisa, Havana. (PRC) - December 15, 2021. During these five months of imprisonment under the communist regime, MINIT officers have asked me ironically, "What did you accomplish by going out into the street on July 11th?" My answer is not just an answer; it is a fact. I was part, along with thousands of Cubans, of the largest event of the Cuban resistance, guided by the new paradigm of Homeland and Life.

We demonstrated the true nature of the Castro-communist dictatorship, based on an obsession with power, control, obedience, and the punishment of human beings. We showed the world, and even they themselves, that this people is not the same people subjected to the political and ideological blackmail they are accustomed to. We do not allow the communist and Canelista party to speak for us, because we have made our own voices, and that is enough to defend ourselves against lies and discrediting, against the constant abuse of the right to be different.

We demonstrated the helplessness before the law, the fabricated charges, such as being brought before the court and punished for refusing to be part of the revolutionary process. On the 11th, we demonstrated courage, resolve, and disagreement with the silence of the years. We demonstrated unanimity through the heterogeneous nature of the demonstration, as young people, adults, the elderly, university students and farmers, housewives and workers, as well as leaders and even party cadres, took to the streets to say yes in favor of overthrowing the dictatorship and for a new, prosperous, and democratic Cuba. We demonstrated how the State Security operates in the shadows, we demonstrated that they are capable of anything, destroying families and homes, engaging in personal defamation and false testimony, we demonstrated that the communists are the Nazis of the 20th century. They resort to torture and inhuman treatment of men and women like me to force us to confess to being communists. We demonstrated the totalitarian nature of the socialist system, capable of intimidating and terrorizing; and threaten the families of the protesters.

We demonstrated that communism violates and disrespects its own constitution. The police—and I know this—made the population sign a pledge agreeing not to demonstrate again, thus nullifying Article 56 of the constitution. Therefore, I say to everyone today that we did not fail that day. We made it important, and it will be remembered as the event that ushered in the era of Cuban resistance. Let us not feel defeated, even though the regime remains. We must be prepared to face the sacrifice that every cause demands. Many eyes were opened, never to be closed. That is why today we are more than yesterday, and tomorrow we will be more than today.

Long live free Cuba, Homeland and Life.

From prison, women from the west, Guatao la Lisa, María Cristina Garrido Rodríguez.

Republican Party of Cuba.

Vueltabajo Foundation for Cuba.