"There was a very bold, very intelligent rebel who chose the path of violence. Weapons estrange you from God. He distanced himself from God; he withdrew from his own people. He even withdrew from his own program of July 26. I believe he saw himself as a man of the century, maybe working too passionately for his ego. // He will be remembered for his authenticity because he was authentic. He was a double genius. A genius in military and demagoguery. The greatness of men incites you to admire them. And so, he did so many things of such great dimensions. I hold the belief that there will be a collective realization that he played a big role in the destruction of this country. There is going to be the awareness because we already have the communications. Some will condemn him; others will forgive him, and others will choose to turn a blind eye. But there is going to be awareness that he destroyed this country."
"I was born in the countryside, grew up there, so when you see certain facilities, logically, you feel like expressing your thoughts on them… It's not a matter of gratitude, but rather a sense of contentment. But I think that here what happened is that things considered commonplace globally, such as television, for example... Where there had been more development, it was perceived as triumphs of the revolution. Yet those were standard advancements in every other country, nothing extraordinary."
"The only house around that the Rural Guard visited before the triumph of the revolution was my parents’ house. More precisely house of my parents and their siblings because they were all deeply immersed in the revolution and the 26th of July Movement. My father, his brothers Rodovaldo, (who later attained military ranks tragically met his end in an accident) Nico, and his two sisters: my godmother and aunt engaged in propagandist stuff, tirelessly typing on the machines until 3 am. This nocturnal activity was a necessity due to the Rural Guard watch. Later, when the revolution triumphed... the very first days, my father told his brother: 'You can take my part, I'm not interested in this anymore. // They took nothing of significance from my father, the farm wasn't big enough to seize more and he didn't have a substantial business. What did bother him a lot were the people who began to seize control, claim possession of things everywhere. In other words, those applauding after the revolution triumphed. When the revolution triumphed, everybody was like: ‘Yeeaah!' My father observed that and withdrew. He never shared these ideas."
Pedro Albert Sánchez was born on August 1st in Pinar del Río. His father, a farmer who worked as a carpenter and a bricklayer shaped his childhood closely connected to the countryside, and to this day he remains fond of agricultural activities. His family supported the 26th of July Movement with both his father and his brothers actively contributing, for example, with the production of propaganda posters. This led to visits by the Cuban Rural Guard to his house. On one of these occasions, Pedro‘s uncle even escaped to the mountains and joined the Rebel Army. However, after the triumph of the revolution, the enthusiasm faded. People began to emerge, seeking ways to benefit from the changes in the system but Pedro’s father disagreed with this approach. Pedro studied to be a teacher and worked as a physics professor in prestigious institutions. Witnessing the hatred and mistreatment of the dissidents, he turned in his Communist Youth card and in 1994 attempted to leave Cuba by sea. The police stopped him on his way to the beach. Since then, Pedro expanded his civic activities against the Castro dictatorship. He wrote a letter expressing his concerns regarding the course taken by the government and submitted it to the Public Service Office. Later, in 2019 he was interrogated for publishing proclamations on social networks similar to the ones in the letter. Pedro was arrested on July 11, 2021, for his participation in the nationwide demonstrations. He was sentenced to five years in prison and went on four hunger strikes. He was released after a year and a half due to his declining health. Since then, he has been systematically persecuted by Cuban authorities.
