Amelia Calzadilla, the mother who gained notoriety for her direct actions in networks against the Cuban leadership, stated that she left the country to give emotional and psychological stability to her children and her family.
"The reason is to provide more emotional and psychological stability to the children and my family. I have had a lot of social pressure motivated by the issue of the direct ones, judicial pressure, since they had threatened me and in that circumstance you understand that you cannot protect yourself and that no one will protect," Calzadilla said in statements to Cuban director Ian Padrón, who interviewed her for his program "Derecho a Réplica."
The young woman arrived in Spain three days ago, and in the first interview she givesfrom abroad, explained that what kept her out of the judicial process was the popular support that her direct statements had, and the independent press that echoed them.
"I was not looking to be an opponent, nor an activist, nor did I want recognition; but in the end, even if you don't call them dictators, you uncover problems that we have been dragging on," she commented from Madrid.
Regarding whether she considered herself an opposition member, she said that one day the announcer Ernesto Morales clarified to her that "it doesn't matter how you see yourself, but how they see you, and for them you are an opposition member" and "after that I stopped labeling myself," she commented.
Calzadilla considered that the main enemy of the regime is its own policies and the discourse that has lost total credibility among the population.
"I am a Cuban mother like there are many who cannot continue living in a country where their children have to work, where their children are in danger and are dealing with a reality that they should not and do not have to deal with. There are many like me who want to express it as I did it," he stressed.
About thatfirst direct that put her at the center of public opinion andrepression of the Cuban regime, said that at home they were a true team and all this media influence had an impact on the family dynamic.
"My mother made the arrangements for the gas, but she has a heart condition and as a result of Covid-19, since she was a vulnerable group, I took charge of the procedure. On the day of the explosive direct I had gone out to make arrangements and the trigger was that They told me that the network could not be expanded and that the material they had only served to replace the damaged pipes, since as a result of the Saratoga explosion, there were many calls to complain about the poor condition of the facilities, which date back to of Gerardo Machado's government, in the Republican era. They were prioritizing a report in a secondary school that was more than a year old," he said.
After her appearance on the networks, and after she was threatened and even imprisoned, her life changed.
"Your life changes so much, you have so much pressure, an additional burden, that your life becomes one torment on top of the other and one burden on top of the other. Before the direct ones I was no longer working. I stopped working on July 11 and as translator I was able to do many collaborations such asfreelancer, which allowed me to live. But as a result of the direct threats I could no longer do that job because there are people who were afraid to hire me because they wanted to return to Cuba," he explained.
At the end of her message she acknowledged that "the weight that Cuban women have on their shoulders is a lot, the social, economic and even teaching and indoctrination pressures in schools rest on their shoulders, she said.
Likewise, he advocated the need for an independent press and a press that is not tied to the discourse of power.
Amelia had shared a message on her Facebook to her friend Nelson Álvarez "El Porfiao" – the father who gave his seven-year-old son permission to leave Cuba – in which he said that he had been in another country for two days, without clarifying exactly where.
"I still don't have access to the network because I haven't even been in this country for 48 hours, but as soon as I have it I will properly appreciate everyone's support and affection," the young woman said on Thursday.
Porfiao dedicated an emotional farewell text to him in which he regrets his departure.
"Your absence will be added to the endless list of those things that lacerate my soul, that you will be one more void, that there will be inevitable mourning in my heart," he wrote to her.
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