Witness Freddy Valverde - Radio Prague in a Cuban jail
Last week one of the most prominent dissidents in Cuba, Oswaldo Paya, was in the Czech Republic. Because of their shared experiences of communism Cuban dissidents have close links with this country, despite the nearly 5000 miles between the two countries. The peaceful transition to democracy and Vaclav Havel's almost miraculous journey from prison to the presidency, offer hope that the same could happen in Havana. The head of Radio Prague's Spanish section, Freddy Valverde, has spent a good deal of time in Cuba, and traveled to Miami last year with President Havel to meet Cuban dissidents in exile. Here he remembers an encounter with a Cuban exile, who feels a bond not just with the Czech Republic but also with Radio Prague itself.
Freddy Valverde
"I have fond memories of my visit to Miami, where I met Mario Chanez
de Armas. At first sight you'd say, he's a just sweet little old man. But
he experienced something terrible. He was in prison in Cuba for thirty
years. Ironically he was one of those who helped Fidel Castro at the time
of the revolution. Mario Chanez realized that the situation in Cuba wasn't
going the way he'd hoped and that Fidel had promised. His crime was to say
that things could be done a little differently. For that he was given 30
years in prison. His story is interesting for us because it's closely
linked to the Czech Republic, and concretely, to Radio Prague, because he
listened to Radio Prague when he was in prison. He told me that of course
it was against prison rules. Political prisoners weren't allowed radios.
They were smuggled in, or the prisoners made them out of bits of old
radios. He would listen to Radio Prague's broadcasts in Spanish and this
was a bridge to the world. In prison he experienced the Velvet Revolution
and how Vaclav Havel became president, he heard about the mass
demonstrations on the streets and so on. And then, when President Havel
was in Miami, it was a magical moment, because he was able to meet him in
person. And he told Mr Havel how he already knew him from the radio from a
time before he had even dreamed that they would meet one day. Mario Chanez
was in jail for thirty years, the longest serving political prisoner in
the world. That's more than Nelson Mandela. So he's a symbol of the fate
of political prisoners in Cuba. But he's a gentle person. He doesn't want
revenge. He told me again and again how important our broadcasts can be
for prisoners. We're their contact with the world. Radio can help give
them hope that one day they'll be free again."
