The two animals that escaped from Ariel Ruiz Urquiola's farm have returned home after being held for two days by a neighbor. The neighbor initially did not want to reach an agreement with the mother of the Cuban scientist, who lives in Switzerland because the Havana regime prevents her from entering the Island.
Instead of negotiating a compensation with the mother of the Ruiz Urquiola family, the neighbor, known as El Niño Dopico, turned to the authorities at the Ministry of Agriculture in the municipality, as confirmed by the activist himself during two live broadcasts from CiberCuba to denounce what was happening in real time.
The animals were in the sun and tied up for hours, during which Ariel Ruiz Urquiola's mother feared the worst: that they would be confiscated. This situation was particularly painful for her because she helped one of the calves that was being held to be born. Ultimately, the media attention surrounding what was happening in real-time has yielded results.
On the same day that the animals were taken, one of the workers at the farm that Ariel Ruiz Urquiola has in usufruct in Viñales (Pinar del Río) resigned, and he has been unable to renew the contract because he is not allowed to enter Cuba to do so. This situation, created by the regime itself, has been used by the authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture to argue that due to the breach of contract, the farm must be vacated and the animals confiscated.
Last November, authorities from the Communist Party, reminiscent of the old Rural Guard, approached the farm to announce that they would rescind the usufruct contract and initiate a forced sale of the livestock. On February 21, they arrived at the farm and took two animals.
This time they have taken a different approach, but the goal remains the same: to gradually take away all the animals. Ariel Ruiz Urquiola's mother is determined to stay in Viñales "until the last cow."
For his part, Ruiz Urquiola has initiated a peaceful protest outside the Bundeshaus in Bern (Switzerland) to demand respect for his family's rights and the acknowledgment of crimes against humanity.
I am in front of the Bundeshaus to raise awareness among Swiss parliamentarians to reconsider the concept of crimes against humanity in line with the Rome Statute, which involves the systematic nature of crimes committed by those in power in Cuba, but not statistics. Human Rights Campaign titled: "Recognizing Crimes Against Humanity in Switzerland," slogan "Justice Beyond Numbers— Make It Right!" Ariel Ruiz Urquiola clarified to CiberCuba.
In a video sent to CiberCuba, Ariel Ruiz Urquiola expresses his gratitude to the audience of this platform for helping him recover these two animals, while his mother remains determined and continues to demand the return of the pregnant cow (Rita) and the donkey (Guana), which were forcibly taken by the head of Livestock, Carlos Fleitas, on the orders of the Minagri delegate in Viñales, Jorge Miguel Martínez Hernández, on February 21.
"I want to thank you for helping us amplify this other blatant violation of human rights, in this case, my mother, and of animals, who also have rights. Yet, in a country where there are no rights for people, what rights can there be for animals?"
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