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.
"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."
