March 5, 1999

By Carlos Moreno

A group of Cuban-American psychiatrists from South Florida, with the support of U.S. Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.), won a small victory against the communist government in Cuba last December. The psychiatrists worked toward the release of a 30-year-old blind Cuban dissident involuntarily hospitalized in a Havana psychiatric facility.

Milagros Cruz Cano was arrested four times in six weeks in Cuba by government authorities for her involvement in Cuban opposition groups.

Cruz suffered from bruises on her face after being detained by Cuban state security police in Havana for protesting a trial of another dissident during a demonstration last November 27. Cruz, along with five others, was arrested and released the next day.

One week later, however, Cuban authorities detained her again and transferred her to the Cordoba Forensic Ward in Havana Psychiatric Hospital, where she was held until December 14 without visitation rights.

Cruz refused the medication offered to her while hospitalized, according to South Florida Psychiatric Society (SFPS) President-elect Rigoberto Rodriguez, M.D. "Her family confirmed that no electroshock therapy was given, nor any other psychiatric treatment," he said.

After having been contacted from Cuba by the Cruz family, Rodriguez, Jose de la Gandara, M.D., and other members of the Cuban American Psychiatric Association (CAPA) and the SFPS formed a committee to seek the woman's immediate release.

The committee began the crusade by placing six or seven phone calls daily to the president of the Cuban Psychiatric Association (CPA), Ricardo Gonzalez-Menendez, M.D., to check on Cruz and persuade the doctor to conduct an official mental evaluation of the patient personally.

Soon thereafter, the Cuban doctor concluded that Cruz was not suffering from any psychiatric condition and had no history of mental illness. Cruz was released the next day.

Díaz-Balart issued U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright a written statement criticizing the wrongful detainment of Cruz and sought to galvanize Albright's support for Cruz's release.

With the backing of the committee composed of South Florida psychiatrists, Diaz-Balart held a press conference in Miami on the day after Cruz's release. He denounced the misuse of psychiatry for repressive purposes and launched a public awareness campaign to enlighten the public about the Cuban regime's practice of wrongful psychiatric hospitalization as a method to suppress public dissent.

In addition, phone communication with Cruz was attempted at the press conference so she and the press could communicate directly. However, she was not available for comment. According to Anna Gamonal, a staff aide to Díaz-Balart, Cruz's sister was contacted and later revealed that local police had detained Cruz during the press conference for additional questioning. She was released that same day.

Cruz's troubles with Cuban authorities continued. Cuban state police arrested her for a third time at 5 a.m. in her home in Havana approximately one week after her release from the Havana Psychiatric Hospital. She was incarcerated in a regular prison facility.

Cruz's sister told Rodriguez that Cruz suffers from a seizure disorder. During her confinement, she was subject to sleep deprivation and underwent an extensive and cumbersome interrogation regarding her participation in Cuban opposition groups.

Cuban state police released Cruz on January 19 from her third arrest. This was one day after another scheduled commemoration, which she had planned to attend, honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on his birthday.

Cuban authorities detained her a fourth time at 4:30 a.m. at her home approximately one day before a commemoration was to take place honoring the country's fallen hero and liberator, Jose Martí. She was released three days later.

Prior to her arrest, Cruz was actively involved with a Cuban human rights organization, Fundacíon Lauton, in preparation for their participation in a scheduled commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

SFPS president-elect Rodriguez inferred that her hospitalization was planned by the island's communist regime to forestall the demonstration. He added, "This practice is common in Cuba and is used to prevent dissident organizations from protesting on holidays that celebrate civil or human rights."

Rodriguez has documented and collected more than two dozen alleged cases of Cuban misuses of psychiatry. Also, he chairs a human rights committee that reviews claims of psychiatric abuse domestically and abroad.

SFPS member Eugenio Rothe, M.D., commended the efforts of the investigative committee formed by Rodriguez and his colleagues.

"Their activism represents a laudable example of the widening scope of what psychiatrists can contribute to society at large," he commented.