The former partner of the artist Carlos Massola and mother of his only daughter, Bertha Mariela Sablón Roque, denied on Saturday that the actor's remains are missing and stated that they are "safely kept" in her possession.
The ashes are in safe hands with us. The audios that were released were the result of a miscommunication between Mrs. Gladys Escandell and me. She was asked as a favor to leave Carlos' ashes at the house, but she sent them with someone who later brought them to me. At the time of the audio, the ashes were on their way to my house, they are here, with his daughter, where they should be," the woman explained in statements to the Cubanet news portal.
Furthermore, Sablón Roque denied the news spread on the internet through Facebook pages like La Tijera and content creators like Alain Paparazzi regarding the alleged involvement of the Cuban State Security in this matter.
"I am not from State Security, nor does State Security have the ashes or have anything to do with this, it is purely a family problem," emphasized the woman, who in a Facebook post claimed that Massola was the love of her life.
Sablón Roque recalled that she was a Lady in White and has been persecuted by the political police for 30 years for being the wife of Calixto Fernández, "a political prisoner who suffered abuse by this Government." Currently, the woman cannot leave her house as she suffers from severe lymphangitis and cervical problems that do not allow her to stand.
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He also clarified that Carlos Massola's friend who picked up the ashes was the one who made sure that the beloved actor was taken to pick up the hearse after hours of long waiting and, in addition, he was cremated despite the funeral authorities' refusal.
Another rumor circulating on social media is that the regime did not allow Carlos Massola's body to be viewed, information that was also debunked by Sablón Roque.
No one prevented Carlos' wake, he was not in a state of decomposition either. Carlos's mother is very elderly and she did not want to go to the wake. In order to avoid embarrassment, we as a family explained to that same friend to have Carlos cremated. At that moment my mind was so tormented that I did not have the ability to request an autopsy, but I thought his mother had requested it," she detailed.
Finally, the activist asked for respect for her daughter and clarified that the ashes are fine and that, at some point, they will be taken to the sea, although that was not Carlos Massola's last wish, as he never thought of dying in Cuba, she argued. She said his wish was to go to the United States, but his parole never came.
Carlos Massola announced in October 2023 his possible departure from the island through humanitarian parole, sponsored by his cousin Eduardo Massola, but he suddenly died on July 3 at the age of 62.
He had become an uncomfortable figure for the regime due to his denunciations of the abuses of the Cuban government, and his death was completely ignored by the cultural authorities of Cuba. No official cultural institution or state media outlet spoke out about his passing.
Amid the prevailing official silence, the Cuban Filmmakers Assembly published a timid text more than 24 hours after the death, in which they lamented the fact, while using a couple of euphemisms to refer to the actor's political rebellion.
Despite the silence in official circles, Massola received the tribute of many of his colleagues and the affection of the people, who appreciated the courage of the actor in expressing his political ideas and denouncing the government for its inefficiency and corruption, as well as for the human rights violations and repression of freedoms.
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