Cuban dissident accuses Havana of ¡°psychological war of attrition¡±

?vila, 31, considered one of the most active opponents of the regime led by Ra¨²l Castro, was first arrested on April 6, when his computer was seized. He was then rearrested in the early hours of April 9 and released later that evening on bail, accused of ¡°illicit enrichment.¡±

At his first arrest, ?vila used his phone to record the incident and then posted footage on social networks. He spent the night in a police station and was released the following morning. He then returned to the airport to demand the return of his computer. He said he was given a receipt confirming that it had been taken to be examined by a state security unit, but was not told whether the laptop would be returned.

¡°There are no laws against bringing a laptop into Cuba. I want to tell the world that there is a lot of theft in this airport. There are mothers and old people who have had milk and clothes for their children stolen. It is time that Cubans reported these abuses,¡± said ?vila last week by telephone.

?vila fell out of favor with the regime after criticizing its restrictions on internet use

¡°It was the straw that broke the camel¡¯s back,¡± said ?vila, who heads Somos+ (We are more), which describes itself on its website as: ¡°A movement that wants to build a modern, prosperous and free country.¡±

Somos+ accuses the Cuban authorities of waging a war of ¡°psychological attrition¡± against opponents, saying that they have been subjected to humiliating treatment at Havana airport when returning from overseas trips and that another activist had the contents of his house removed. ¡°They left him a mattress and a television,¡± says ?vila.

Other opponents of the Cuban government have reported similar low-level repression that they say is designed to wear out dissidents without the use of prison terms, which damage the country¡¯s international reputation. The Madrid-based Cuban Human Rights Observatory says that in 2016, there were 9,351 politically motivated ¡°arbitrary detentions,¡± up almost 10% on the previous year. These tend to see the release of detainees within 24 hours.

?vila, a graduate in computer sciences and a member of official bodies such as the Union of Young Communists and the Federation of University Students, says that if he had ¡°betrayed¡± his convictions by now he would be a ¡°privileged leader.¡±

?vila says if he had betrayed his convictions he would be a ¡°privileged leader¡± by now

He fell out of favor with the regime after publicly challenging the then president of the Cuban parliament, Ricardo Alarc¨®n, about the government¡¯s restrictions on internet use and its policy of monitoring people¡¯s online activities.

Four years on, ?vila says that he is under constant surveillance. Later this year he is considering running as a community representative. He says he accepts that he has few options, but that it is important to ¡°compete in the community,¡± describing it as planting a ¡°seed of democracy.¡±

But he is optimistic about the future, saying that in five years he will be part of a ¡°democratic parliament at the very least, and, at most, president of Cuba.¡±

English version by Nick Lyne.