“One morning I was taken from the house by forces of the Rebel Army in the area, from Punta Gorda and Cayo Güín, and taken to an intricate place in the Sagua de Tanamo area. I was the son of a military man and along with me there were also four other citizens. I never knew the real reason why they kidnapped me. I later thought that it would be a preventive measure by the rebel forces prior to the attack on this same area of Sagua de Tamano. There I had to work hard at night making trenches in the mountains, laying power lines. This was in preparation for the attack on Sagua de Tanamo. It was forced labor. // There we were all in a prison that consisted of a natural cave. It was about three months.”
“I learned that the main responsibility of a technician was to stand up for and build with quality, but at that time it was customary to build with goals. So, the technician was generally not in charge of the work. The head of the work was responsible and we were subordinates. Because of the goal, they had to finish certain works in a relatively short period of time. From my point of view, ordinary works had to be completed with poor quality and I was in opposition to that. // I was even accused of intentionally slowing down the development of the word because I stood up for building with quality. // For that reason, one day, unfairly, they tried to transfer me, which would have had a serious impact on my relationship with my household, transportation, and work performance (because I already had some experience there and knowledge from the base). I was prepared to take on any type of work anywhere. But due to the whims of other people, they wanted to move, to hurt me illegally. I didn’t agree and so I lost my job. They kicked me out for disobedience.”
“There was even a conspiracy to end the life of Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina in prison through other prisoners who existed here. An officer from the MININT (Ministry of the Interior) was summoned and he gathered together some political prisoners with criminal connotations sentenced to up to thirty years in prison so that they could end the life of Néstor Rodríguez because he would later continue to be a problem between prisoners. This was known and reported. When this occurred, some of the prisoners who were summoned to commit the crime did not agree with it. Of course, they couldn’t express it, but they sent it to a boy there inside the prison, who then sent it to his wife. Unfortunately, his wife did not play the appropriate role and failed to inform her family and the crime was carried out. Luckily, within the prison itself, other prisoners intervened to prevent his murder. They even fractured his jaw… one of these highly dangerous prisoners who had been imprisoned; he was a soldier and police officer in Havana and was imprisoned in the Guantánamo Complex. Notice that this was planned and coordinated. The re-educator who was assigned to Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina (who really should not be missing because he is the one who has the train the inmates in the morning and gives them the tasks that correspond to each one) did not go to work that day. When Néstor was unconscious and bleeding, lying on the floor, no one came to help him. There was no prisoner, no re-educator, there was nothing. When he regained consciousness around twelve o’clock in the morning, stammering because he had both of his jaws fractured, there was no soldier, there was no guard. At one in the afternoon, they had not picked him up to take him to the infirmary. Note that it was planned that other prisoners would kill him in prison.”
Ramón Rodríguez Azahares was born on the 21st of April, 1938 in Barcos, a city situated on the Northern coast of the Easternmost region of Cuba. Today, the city belongs to the province of Guantanamo and its economy almost completely depends on the cultivation of cacao, coffee, and coconuts. Ramón began studying when he was only ten years old. During that time, he lived with his grandparents, as his father was a soldier and later served under the command of General Fulgencio Batista. This later resulted in Ramón’s kidnapping by rebel forces during the fighting that preceded the triumph of the revolution. The young man spent three months sleeping in a natural cave in the middle of the rainforest together with the rest of the kidnappees, forced to dig trenches and lay powerlines for the rebel groups. Eventually, thanks to an operation by the national armed forces, he returned home. Ramón studied at the Workers and Peasants Secondary School and learned the foundations of architecture and construction. In 1968, he graduated with a degree in Civil and Industrial Construction in Havana. Throughout his career, Ramón worked on countless projects throughout Cuba. One example of his work can be seen in the town of Birán, where he participated in the construction of homes and infrastructure projects. He was also the technical head of similar projects in Isla de Juventud, Moa, Baracoa, and Guantánamo. However, he strongly disagreed with the tight deadlines forced by the goal of rapid construction, as he felt it was impossible to build quality work under such conditions. Due to his rebellious attitude, he was suspended – despite having worked for almost 40 years. Ramón appealed in court, took on his own defense, and won. Following his victory, he returned to his profession and worked until his retirement. Ramón‘s rebellious spirit was also passed on to his children. Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina, today a renowned Cuban oppositionist living in exile, was a victim of continuous harassment from an early age, resulting in his absolute rejection of the Cuban regime. The false cases against him resulted in his imprisonment in Cuban prisons for several years, during which he even suffered a supposed assassination attempt. Throughout his entire time in prison, his father studied Cuban law in the hopes of helping him. Néstor Rodríguez Lobaina was finally able to leave Cuba.
