“Women still in prison, don't be afraid": activist released from jail

Cuban activist Angelica Garrido, released on July 10 after serving a three-year sentence for participating in the July 202 protests, sent a strong message to women who remain in prison: “do not let yourselves be impressed, do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, it is your right to fight for what belongs to you.”

“There are many ways to fight in a dignified manner as we have done. Let them not be afraid, the strength is in us,” said Garrido in an exclusive interview for ADNCuba, once she crossed the prison bars to freedom.

María Cristina and Angélica Garrido were arrested on July 12, 2021 and accused of leading the popular protests that occurred in Quivicán, Mayabeque province in the context of the anti-government demonstrations of July 11, 2021.

Garrido described his first hours at liberty as a period of “mixed feelings,” expressing relief, but also sadness for those he left behind, including his sister María Cristina, who remains imprisoned.

“You suffer,” he said, ”for my sister's children and my cause sister like Sandra Góngora. It's something that hurts you.”

The former political prisoner spoke about the emotional impact of her imprisonment, highlighting the loss of her parents during her time in prison and the important family moments she missed.

“My mother told me she was going to wait for me and she died on Friday. That was a very difficult shock for me that affected me. But it's not a time to cry because my children need me. The fact that I wasn't there when they graduated, when my firstborn entered university.

She assured that her husband Luis “has suffered a lot during this three-year separation”.

Despite the difficulties, Garrido affirmed that she has gained strength and political maturity. “I have had time to analyze, to study, to read. I have grown a lot,” he declared.

On prison conditions, Garrido mentioned harsher treatment of political prisoners by officials, although he noted that there was mutual respect with most of the inmates.

Garrido described the 11J protests as “an awakening” for the Cuban people, calling it “the happiest day of my life.”

With a firm voice, the former political prisoner emphasized that if “they (the regime) thought they were going to break us, they were also wrong. They have not succeeded, nor are they going to succeed”.

“My sister is still strong and unbreakable. She has grown a lot, to the point that she wrote her poem “unbreakable” in prison. In the midst of that place where she was, she has grown, also as a mother.”

Garrido described the 11J protests as “an awakening”. The people of Cuba woke up. For me it was the happiest day of my life. It was something genuine, something that came from the heart, that crowd that rose up and was one voice. What we need is for that feeling and those anxieties to be maintained.”

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