The Cuban regime denied entry to the country to the opposition member Roberto Álvarez, who planned to travel to see his sick father. At the last moment, while already seated on the plane, they took him off and left him on the ground.
The incident occurred on June 28th at Miami International Airport, as they were about to board flight 2211 of Eastern Air Express, departing at 11:45 am to Santa Clara.
Álvarez told América TeVe that he was already in his seat when the captain and a flight attendant headed towards his seat and informed him that the Cuban government was denying him entry. Cuba communicated this to the airline in response to their email containing the list of passengers that must be sent to the island before each flight departure.
"I only told them, why do business with a dictatorship then if 'you are the ones facing it'," he recounted.
The activist was traveling to Manicaragua, Villa Clara, and was only planning to stay in Cuba for two days. He purchased the ticket urgently after being notified that his father had become seriously ill. He had received a document from the Ministry of Transportation that allowed him to enter the country.
Álvarez is the founder in Cuba of the Democracy Movement, led by Ramón Saúl Sánchez.
In December, he traveled to the island to see his dad and the regime did not prevent him from doing so. However, in 2006, they denied him entry when he was going to see his mother. On that occasion, they let him reach Havana, and at the same airport, they sent him back to Miami.
Saúl Sánchez believes that this new violation of his rights is in retaliation for the activism of the Democracy Movement, as the third anniversary of July 11 approaches.
The travel agency Travel a Lot Services refunded Álvarez the money for the ticket, although they declined to make any public statements about the case.
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