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Leonel Grave de Peralta Almenares
 Organizer
for the Varela Project, Director of the Independent Bartolomé Massó
Library, 20 year sentence
Leonel Grave de Peralta Almenares was an active member of
the Christian Liberation Movement (Movimiento Cristiano Liberación:
MCL) in Palma Soriano in Santiago de Cuba. He was also a dedicated
local organizer for the Varela Project, collecting more than 100 signatures
from the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba. As director of the Bartolomé
Massó Library, Mr. Grave de Peralta had a circulation record of
over 700 book loans, in spite of the limited resources of Cuban independent
libraries.
His membership with the Christian Liberation Movement (Movimiento
Cristiano Liberación: MCL) caused him to be the subject of
repeated harassment by government groups known as the “Rapid Response
Brigades” (Brigadas de Respuesta Rápida). In September
2000, Mr. Grave de Peralta and other members of the MCL were interrogated
by the Cuban police who threatened to detain them if they participated
in the city of Cobre’s annual religious festival.
Similar to other dissidents imprisoned during this recent
crackdown, Mr. Grave de Peralta is accused of breaching Law 88, a law
dealing with “activities against the integrity and sovereignty of
the state”, due to his work with the Varela Project. Mr. Grave de
Peralta is currently serving his sentence in Kilo 5 ½ prison in
the Pinar del Rio province in Western Cuba.
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