Cable de Wikileaks delata a Reynaldo Escobar como confidente de la SINA

Por M. H. Lagarde

Un cable de la SINA recientemente publicado por Wikileaks da detalles sobre el informe sobre las elecciones en Cuba que le pasó a la Oficina de Intereses en La Habana el contrarrevocionario Reynaldo Escobar, esposo de la bloguera cubana Yoani Sánchez.

El despacho, fechado el 28 enero 2008 y firmado por el entonces jefe de la SINA Michael Parmly, afirma que la investigación de Escobar, a quien se presenta como el editor de una importante revista cubana de noticias en línea, "proporciona un innovador análisis sobre las elecciones a la Asamblea Nacional el pasado domingo".

De acuerdo con el "confidente" del gobierno de Estados Unidos en La Habana, Reynaldo Escobar, "el número de votantes descontentos en esta elección puede haber sido tan alto como 30 por ciento".

En su cable cifrado Michael Parmly hace referencia también a la importancia de las cifras ofrecidas por la fuente (Escobar) y de la influencia que el mismo tuvo en las conclusiones de otros "disidentes".

Los datos de Escobar parecen influir en las conclusiones del propio Jefe de la Oficina de Intereses de Estados Unidos en La Habana: "Está claro -concluye Parmly-  que, cualquiera que sea el número real de votantes descontentos en esta elección, a pesar de los reiterados llamamientos a la unidad y las táticas de intimidación del gobierno cubano, el pueblo cubano se mostró -en una forma creativa, todavía cautelosa-, cada vez más dispuesto a dejar que su gobierno sepa sus verdaderos sentimientos".

Un cable anterior, recientemente públicado por Wikileaks, relata la visita de Escobar y la bloguera cubana Yoani Sánchez a la residencia de Parmly.

Texto del cable

 

Date: Wed,  7 Sep 2011 10:26:00 -0400

Subject: reinaldito

Reference id   aka Wikileaks id #139009  ?

..

Subject   Cuba's Official Election Statistics: An Alternative View

Origin   US Interests Section Havana (Cuba)

Cable time   Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:41 UTC

Classification   CONFIDENTIAL

Source   http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/01/08HAVANA94.html

History   First published on Thu, 1 Sep 2011 23:24 UTC

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VZCZCXYZ0000 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHUB #0094 0282141 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P

282141Z JAN 08 FM USINT HAVANA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2787

INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RHEHAAA/NATIONAL

SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL

PRIORITY

Hide header C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000094 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O.

12958: DECL: 01/25/2013 TAGS: CU [Cuba], KPAO [Public Affairs Office],

PGOV [Internal Governmental Affairs] SUBJECT: CUBA'S OFFICIAL ELECTION

STATISTICS: AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW REF: HAVANA 00063 Classified By: COM

MICHAEL E. PARMLY FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) & (D) ¶1.
SUMMARY: The editor of a prominent Cuban online news magazine provided an
innovative analysis

of last Sunday's National Assembly elections. Reynaldo Escobar used

the GOC's own statistics to show how many more protest votes may have

been cast than seemed at first blush. Two other Mission contacts in

the dissident community and a journalist working for a Mexican news

service independently volunteered the sa-eQunswlYcited analysis. END

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rxsQs|o2}rS[$$i_j;qIII"E2sNQ'MaQhe process and/or the regime. ¶5.

Escobar further speculated that when one added in the large numbers of

people who would have loved to register their objections, but out fear

of reprisal opted not to do so, the number of disaffected voters in

this election may have been as high as 30 percent -- an unprecedented

figure. ¶6. Escobar,s judgment was independently confirmed by Herminio

Torres, an activist from Matanzas province who spoke with the public

affairs officer the next day. Shown a copy of the statistics cited by

Escobar, Torres agreed that they bore out his conclusions as well. ¶7.

Separately Oswaldo Paya told us he had been struck by the regime's own

statistics and the amount of open discontent reflected therein. Paya

said Escobar's analysis persuaded him that the actual "dissident"

community in Cuba numbers in the hundreds of thousands, even over a

million. Enrique Lopez Oliva, citizen correspondent of the Mexican

newspaper "Monitor," concurred. ¶8. COMMENT: Post believes that

whatever the actual number of disaffected voters in this election, it

is clear that in spite of the GOC,s repeated appeals for unity (and

intimidation tactics that in some places were rumored to include

numbered ballots), the Cuban people showed themselves increasingly

willing to let their government know their true feelings in a variety

of creative -- albeit still cautious -- ways. PARMLY