Why doesn't Aron Modig talk? By Eva Belfrage.
Why doesn’t Aron Modig talk?
By Eva Belfrage
March 15, 2013
In a meeting in Stockholm organized in a hall of the Swedish Parliament by the Christian Democratic Party of Sweden on March 5, 2013 with the Cuban dissidents Rosa Maria Payá and Regis Iglesias, the two guests talked about the work of their organization MCL, Movimiento Christiano Liberación. They gave their views on the struggle for a free and democratic Cuba and Rosa Maria explained the plans of her family for an international investigation into the death in a car crash in Cuba last year of her father, the prominent leader and founder of MCL, Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero from the youth wing. She had several revealing evidences that it was not an accident.
At this meeting, which also included a beautiful ceremony to the memory of Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero it was yet not known (for most of us, I believe) that the same day the Spanish driver of the car, Angel Carromero, had published in Washington Post his testimony about the car crash, which confirmed evidences the family Payá already had. The car had been followed, hit and pushed off the road. Carromero even confirmed that it was a government registered car that hit them, and that they had been pursued all the way, from Havana to Bayamo, where the car was finally hit from behind.
The Swede Aron Modig, the other survivor from the car crash, was present in the audience of the meeting. Rosa Maria Payá and Regis Igleisas had met him the day before, during nearly three hours, but he was, as it seems, only prepared to confirm (at least publicly) the SMS’s sent from Cuba to Sweden, one of which said that “Angel says that someone tried to push us off the road” and that he had no memories from the car crash.
I approached Aron Modig in an interval and found him a bit nervous. I told Aron that I would not pressure him, but asked him if he it had been good to talk to Rosa Maria and he said that it had been very important and that it was a relief to have met her.
When there was a possibility after the break to publicly ask questions I asked Rosa Maria if Aron Modig had any memories from the long journey that lasted nearly 8 hours, as he could not have been asleep all the way, she just answered that this was something I should ask Aron Modig directly.
After the publication of Angel Carromero’s testimony and Rosa Maria Payás visit, Aron Modig stated in the Swedish Radio P1 that he had “no doubts about what was now revealed” by Angel Carromero and Rosa Maria Payá, because “they are very credible persons”.
When Angel was in prison in Cuba, Aron Modig and his party kept firmly silent about the existence of the SMS’s that the Payá family knew about and refused to answer when they were asked, saying that they wouldn’t tell anything for the protection of Angel Carromero. It was not until Angel had been transferred to a Spanish prison and Rosa Maria had come to Spain and talked with Angel, that Aron Modig and his party admitted that the SMS’s had been sent by Aron,
But Aron Modig is not prepared to provide any further details, although it is obvious that he has much more to tell. Why is that?
Is Modig under pressure or threats?
Is Aron Modig under influence or pressure by his party, The Christian Democratic Party, or the Swedish government? If this is so, the question is why? His party is clearly critical of the Cuban dictatorship, as is the Swedish government, who doesn’t have particularly big business interests in Cuba to defend. Could there be a compromise with the Spanish government and the Partido Popular? Or is the Christian Democratic Party or the Swedish government protecting Aron Modig from something?
Is Aron Modig threatened to silence, by the Cuban security, well known for such methods? Angel Carromero has said that he is under pressure from the Spanish government. He also said that he fears for his life. The Payá family in Havana is receiving continuous death threats by the State Security in Cuba and Rosa Maria Payá is considered to be in great danger now. So it is very likely that Aron Modig is also threatened by the Cuban security.
As he was not the driver, he may prefer to keep silent not to prejudice Angel Carromero in a possible pursuit of justice in Spain, to overrule the sentence of four years he received in Cuba and which he is continuing to serve in Spain.
There are many details that Aron Modig should be able to reveal if he was really ‘free’ to talk. For example:
On the long eight hour trip from Havana to Bayamo a lot must have happened and he was surely not asleep all the way. Carromero has testified that they were closely and provocatively followed by security cars from the very start of the journey and when they stopped at a gas station a state security car also stopped and waited, menacingly visible to them.
The stay in the hospital must have been dramatic with so many militaries around, as the SMS's from Cuba said: “Help” “We are surrounded by militaries”. Details from his experiences of this stay may be very important. How did he make himself understood and what was he told? How was he calmed medically, was he heavily drugged, like Angel was? How was his first testimony noted and by whom? What did Angel tell him in detail about the accident? What did the Swedish diplomats advise him? What was he told about Oswaldo and Harold? Until when could he keep his mobile?
The stay in the police cell in Bayamo was according to Angel one of the worst experiences. Aron should be able to explain more details about this stay, the interrogations and what contacts he had or not with Angel who was in the same police station.
There should be more SMS’s that Aron sent home to Sweden, as one message seems to be a comment to an earlier message. What do they tell?
Aron Modig suffered an awful experience in Cuba, which may be difficult to overcome. But if he could assist Angel Carromero and the Payá family in clarifying the facts around the deaths of Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero, it would support not only their struggle for the truth, but also the struggle against the Castro tyranny in Cuba.
Rosa Maria Payá has now through the organization UN Watch presented an appeal to the United Nations for an independant investigation into the deaths of Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero, signed by a row of prominent international politicians and persons. Hence, the case will not be silenced.
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