Interviews with Pablo Pacheco Ávila

It was an incredible time. I remember fondly when Ivan [Garcia] and Claudia Cadelo put the idea [of blogging from prison] in my head. I put out the information, so that they would tell the world what was happening in prisons. They proposed the idea of “Voices Behind Bars.” They created my blog with Yoani Sanchez. I´m very thankful, because it was that blog that stripped the prison system bare. That fills me with pride.

Ivan Garcia is a blogger. His blog is called “From Havana”. Claudia Cadelo is for me one of the best bloggers of Cuba. They continue with that and are wonderful people. They were the ones who really inspired me with this blog.

Many people deserve credit. There was much human solidarity. They [the prison authorities] gave us 15 to 20 minutes of phone calls. The ordinary prisoners [not political prisoners] would give me their telephone time, so I could publicize what was happening to them. Sometimes they would cut the phone line so that I would not continue. But if the call was cut I passed a note to a relative of the prisoner. So, I was involving people that did not even want to get in politics against the system. I was “planting a seed.”

Because, ultimately, it would get out. The truth will set us free. The truth could not be hidden. It might take 24 or 72 hours but in the end it was going to get out. It owes much to human solidarity. Ditto for the prisoners and their families, and because of Ivan, Claudia, Yoani Sanchez, her husband and those who helped with this blog.

[Ivan Garcia (1965 – ), Claudia Cadelo (1983 – ), and Yoani Sanchez (1975 – ) are all well-known Cuban bloggers and critics of the government.]

Pablo Pacheco was born in the city of Puerto Padre in Cuba’s Las Tunas province.

He first became involved with the opposition in 1998 when he joined the Cuban Human Rights Foundation, an organization that monitors and denounces human rights violations and supports Cuban political prisoners. He became the foundation’s secretary.

In 1999, Pablo started a career as an independent journalist. He worked for several independent news agencies such as the College of Independent Journalists of Camaguey, the Avila Independent Journalists Cooperative, and the web-based Cubanet, an online compendium of independent news stories offering alternative perspectives from those of government-controlled media.

On March 19, 2003, Pablo was arrested during a massive government crackdown on activists known as the Black Spring. He was one of 75 nonviolent dissidents, human rights activists, and independent librarians arrested by security forces. In a summary judicial proceeding, he was sentenced to twenty years in prison.

During his incarceration, Pablo helped to establish a blog called “Voices Behind Bars” with dissident bloggers Iván García, Yoani Sánchez and Claudia Cadelo. The platform featured testimonials from political prisoners describing conditions and abuse inside Cuban jails. Their stories were recorded over the phone during the prisoners’ limited telephone privileges. In the event that guards cut off the phone lines, relatives would smuggle written testimonials out of the prison for inclusion in the blog. In 2009, “Voices Behind Bars” was recognized as the best of 187 Cuban opposition blogs in the Una Isla Virtual (A Virtual Island) competition.

After 7 years, Pablo was freed when the Catholic Church and the Spanish government negotiated the release of the 75 Black Spring prisoners. Pablo went into exile and currently lives in Miami, Florida, with his wife and son. He continues to share his experiences from his time in prison and remains active in Cuba’s freedom movement.