Cuban dissident Ariel Sigler arrived in Miami yesterday

The flight that brought Ariel Sigler to liberty arrived yesterday July 28th in the afternoon. The former Cuban athlete and ex-political prisoner was received by the Mayor Thomas Regalado, Representative Julio Robaina, and by hundreds of exiled Cubans residing in Miami. Other pro- human rights organizations like Vigilia Mambisa and the Organization of Exiled Youth (Organizacion de Jovenes Exiliados) welcomed him with flags, posters and cheers.

Sigler was imprisoned seven years ago, when 74 other dissidents were sent to jail, a day that is now remembered as the “Black Spring”. During this time his health deteriorated, leaving him paraplegic, and forcing him to lose more than seventy pounds of weight. “I feel joy and sadness”, expressed Sigler before the press in the Miami International Airport. “Joy because I´m here in a democratic country that respects human rights; and where I can receive the medical treatment that I was denied in Cuba. And I feel sadness because I am very patriotic and it hurts to leave all the leaders that are fighting for liberty in Cuba”, he stated.

In the welcome celebration, Mayor Regalado, and Representative Robaina offered words of encouragement, and expressed how much they admired Sigler for being valiant in the cause of freedom. They also welcomed him to the City of Miami. A symbolic check was given to Sigler on behalf of the Cuban community of South Florida. The Organization of Exiled Youth collected funds that will cover most of the cost of his treatment, and any other expense he might encounter while in the United States. The ex-political prisoner was transported in an ambulance to the Jackson Memorial Hospital where he is going to start his treatment.