The mother of the Garrido sisters, political prisoners of 11J, dies

The sisters' motherAngelica andMaría Cristina Garrido Rodríguez, imprisoned for their participation inthe historic protests of 11J in Quivicán, Mayabeque, died at midnight this Friday.

“It was a sudden lack of air. He died on the way to the polyclinic, the municipal hospital. She suffered from angina pectoris and has suffered a lot of emotional exhaustion during these times. “I had a lot of fluid retention as a result of chronic kidney failure,” he toldCyberCubaLuis Rodríguez Pérez, Angelica's husband.

In statements to this editorial team, the activist considered that the unjust political imprisonment of which the Garrido Rodríguez sisters are victims has been the main cause of the suffering that led to the death of their parents.

In mid-Augustthe father of prisoners of conscience died, without the causes of death being revealed. “The imprisonment of their only two daughters killed their parents, nothing else can be said,” Rodríguez Pérez said this Friday.

“As they had separate visits, the mother had to go twice a week to see her daughters, despite being in poor health. Long trips, from one province to another, going through that suffering… until recently they gave him the opportunity to visit his daughters together,” described the activist.

As he reported, “Angélica got very bad, they had to inject her and give her oxygen because she had two vagal crises.” The sisters were able to leave the prison to say goodbye to their mother, who died suddenly at 12 midnight.

At the beginning of June, the court that handed down the sentence against the sistersratified the sentence he had initially imposed on them. María Cristina, who was sentenced in March 2022 to seven years in prison, maintained her sentence, as did Angélica, sentenced to three years in prison in the same trial.

During the months of confinement, the Garrido sisters have been confined to punishment cells, received beatings, interrogations and threats, especially María Cristina, who is seen by the authorities as the leader of the demonstration in Quivicán, according to repeated complaints from her family.

Both María Cristina (41 years old) and her sister Angélica (39 years old) are mothers of three and two children, respectively, who are now in the care of relatives. Both are part of the group of 74 women imprisoned in Cuba after the social outbreak of 11J.

In September, the Garrido sisters, together with the political prisonerLisandra Góngora, They declared themselves “imposed” to demand their immediate release. A month earlier, the young Angélica Garrido suffered paralysis in half of her body as a result of a stroke in prison.

“I maintain and will maintain my firmness”, declared the political prisoner who, according to what she reported, suffers from other consequences as a result of the stress to which she is subjected in prison, such as weakness, constant headaches and drowsiness.

In December 2021, after referring to the case of the Garrido sisters, the United States government warned thatThe Cuban regime cannot continue to frighten the people of Cuba into silence..

“Sisters María Cristina Garrido and Angélica Garrido, arrested for protesting on 11J, accused of public disorder, lack of respect and resisting arrest. The Cuban regime cannot frighten its people into silence. They continue to fight for their rights. #PrisonersWhy?”, stated the Undersecretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs of the United States Department of State, Brian A. Nichols, on his Twitter account.

In August, Ana Rosa Valdés, mother of the 11J protester, died infected with dengue.Carlos Michelena Valdés, who could not say goodbye to her. After the arrest and sentencing of her son, the woman began to suffer from depression and in the last weeks of her life she contracted dengue, a disease that caused her death.