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The Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in Camagüey has decided to dismiss Roberto Conde Silverio from his position as a member of the Provincial Bureau, as reported this Friday by Cadena Agramonte, the official media outlet of the province, which used the euphemism "relieve from duty" to describe the removal.
Conde Silverio, who served as the Second Secretary of the provincial PCC, is identified by the project Cuban Repressors as one of the organizers of two acts of repudiation against the Chargé d'Affaires of the United States in Cuba, Mike Hammer, which took place on January 31 and February 1 in the city of Camagüey.
According to that source, Conde Silverio coordinated the harassment alongside Yaymir Victoria Basulto, head of the Ideological Department of the provincial PCC, and Yurisney Gil Monteagudo, Provincial First Secretary of the Union of Young Communists (UJC).
"They summoned the potential members of the mob—militants from the PCC and the UJC—and instructed them on where to ambush Hammer and what they should shout at him," specifies the project Represores Cubanos.
The first incident occurred in front of the Santa María Hotel, in the Plaza del Gallo, during a citywide blackout. The second one was repeated the next day.
Hammer was confronted with insults such as "Donald Trump's puppet," "imperialist," "murderer," "terrorist," and "genocidal." The diplomat responded that those who were harassing him "do not represent the Cuban people" and that he would continue traveling across the island.
The Agramonte Chain presented the departure of Conde Silverio as a recognition of his career: it highlighted his 30 years as a political leader in the Federation of Secondary School Students and the UJC, and noted that the plenary acknowledged his "unwavering loyalty to the Communist Party and the Revolution."
However, the journalist José Luis Tan Estrada, who resides in exile, offers a different perspective.
In a video posted on his social media, he claims that Conde Silverio was "dismissed, not released," and points to corruption as the real cause: "Due to being corrupt and one of the main leaders of that corruption mafia in Camagüey, with the diversion and resale of fuel meant for hospitals, polyclinics, and production centers."
This report is significant because during that same period, Camagüey was experiencing a severe fuel crisis, with the suspension of interprovincial transport and the sale of gasoline in foreign currency, worsening the situation for the population.
Estrada argues that the pressure from independent media and social networks forced the resignation, and that the PCC resorts to euphemisms to cover the real reason: "They removed him from his position to supposedly prevent the independent press from turning this into news and making it go viral on social media."
This is not the first time that Conde Silverio has been linked to acts of repression. In August 2022, while serving as the first secretary of the PCC in the municipality of Nuevitas, he was accused of ordering the persecution and intimidation of protestors, including assaults on two girls.
The three leaders involved in the acts of repudiation against Hammer —Conde Silverio, Victoria Basulto, and Gil Monteagudo— have been added to the database of repressors linked to harassment in Camagüey from the Cuban Repressors project.
"We will remain exposed because today it is full of corrupt individuals; all of its leaders are entrenched in corruption. They all have a significant mess hidden under their beds," concluded Tan Estrada.
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