After two weeks without news of her imprisoned son, Cuban mother demands to speak with him

Yvis Abadin assures thatyour son He did not throw the stone that broke a window of the patrol car that was on Villegas Street, in Old Havana, on the night of July 12. The stone flew from a building near the spot where his son Michael was sitting talking with another teenager. The patrol was about 60 meters from both of them. She knows this because she spoke with at least six witnesses to the incident, and although none of them could tell her who threw the stone, they all agreed that her son was innocent.

The arrest, in fact, took place an hour after the stone was thrown, meaning that his son would have remained sitting in the same place as if nothing had happened. “Like everyone who has no crime, he saw no evil,” says the mother. “Michael has always been a studious child, very prepared, he has always been an example of a child.” And he did not show any resistance when several people dressed in civilian clothes appeared before him and his friend and demanded their documents.

Patricia Cepeda, who was Michael's teacher at the Spanish school in Havana where he studied, toldCyberCubathat Michael is "a shy, quiet, friendly boy, who was never in trouble, and maintained good relationships with his classmates and teachers."

"He was very affectionate and protective of his mother, because he knew that he was an only child and his parents were already older," he said.

They did not take the other teenager because his family had come to his defense, alleging that he was a minor. “But of course, since Mike was not in my sight, he was left helpless, and they took him,” said Abadin, in an interview withCyberCuba.

He assured that, until now, no one has gone to the area to listen to what the neighbors have to say. Since July 12, Michael Carey, a 19-year-old young man who is a Cuban and Canadian citizen, because his father is Canadian, has been deprived of liberty and is under investigation.

He has not been put on trial, his mother does not even know when or if the trial will take place. The lawyer in his case only tells him the same thing that other lawyers of people detained after the anti-government protests of July 11 say: that everything will continue like this “until the prosecutor decides.”

Yvis hasn't seen Mike in more than two months. The last time he saw him was the same day of the arrest. They have not been allowed to see each other. Furthermore, before finding out where her son was, about 72 hours of total uncertainty passed.

The notice of his whereabouts came through a phone call from an instructor at the police station located at Picota 209, in Old Havana. The instructor, Yvis remembers, informed her that Michael was detained for attack and was under investigation; that they had done “the smell test” with the stone thrown at the patrol and the result had been positive; that I could go bring him cigarettes and toiletries, nothing more.

Yvis says that the officer also added that there they knew that the boy and her were “disaffected by society,” an expression that can be understood as “opposed to the government” or “counterrevolutionaries,” and that this was harmful to them.

Michael remained in Picota 209 for almost ten days before being transferred, on July 21, to the western youth prison of El Guatao, in Havana. That's where you currently are. Every 15 days, on Wednesdays, his mother goes to bring him something, whatever she can.

Yvis, 49 years old, is a housewife. He says that he has always been dedicated to raising his son and that they lived on support they received from Michael's father, who resides in Canada. However, since the end of April, when the fire occurred in his house, he lost communication with his father.

In the fire they lost practically everything. Not a single appliance was left. The window panes shattered and the walls were left black and damaged. Even today Yvis cannot say the cause. She says that she was with her son in a room watching television and, suddenly, when they went out to the living room, the sofa was on fire. Since then, there is no electricity in the house.

With Michael in jail, the family situation has suffered even more, although without a doubt the worst thing is not hearing from him after learning, about two weeks ago, that he had a yellow hue on his body and eyes.

In accordance withthe statistics built by activists and experts from the independent organization Cubalex, more than a thousand people have been arrested for having participated in some way in the anti-government protests in mid-July. Of them, 536 remain deprived of liberty, while 466 have been released.

Among the hundreds who are still in prison today, there are eight minors under 18 years of age, five young people over 18 years old, seven over 19, eight over 20, and 17 over 21 years old. There in those accounts is Michael Carey, possibly sick.

"My son is the greatest thing in my life and not only do I take care of him but I will not rest until he sees him free and in good health," the mother concluded.