From Political Prisoner to City Council Candidate

Pastor Herrera, running for Ward 5's city council seat, has faced much tougher political battles than the one he's currently embarked upon. While he risks losing some pride if his council campaign fails, it would be nothing compared to the years he endured as a political prisoner in his native Cuba, imprisoned for speaking against the government. 

Four years ago, Herrera ran for city council, going against Councilor Ruth Ann Frazier (Ward 5), but he only received seven votes to Frazier's 63. 

This time, Herrera hopes he'll fare better. Instead of facing a seasoned incumbent (Frazier is retiring from the city council after this term), he'll be campaigning against two relative newcomers to Hyattsville city politics, fellow Ward 5 residents Clayton Williams and Joseph Solomon. 

"We have more issues now than the last time that we ran," said Herrera. "The city has to find more money if we want to continue to have the lifestyle we have now, especially with the reduction in property taxes."

Herrera said his top priorities are finding ways to maintain city services in the face of declining property tax revenues, and controlling crime and encouraging economic development in West Hyattsville. 

"Some restaurants try to promote nightclubs and bring business to the city, but we have to find a way to control the crime," said Herrera. "Every weekend, the Hyattsville police are very busy along Hamilton Street."

Herrera was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1964, five years after Fidel Castro's communist forces solidified his grip on the Caribbean island nation. 

In November 1991, as Communism was coming to an end in Europe, Herrera, then working as a locomotive engineer, was part of a group of Cuban dissidents whose arrest, prosecution and imprisonment attracted international attention. Herrera said that he ended up serving roughly two years as a political prisoner in Cuba.

The 1991 edition of the Inter-American Yearbook on Human Rights, published by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, reported that Herrera was sentenced to a year and four months in a Cuban prison after being found guilty of "operating a clandestine printing press" and "association for unlawful purposes".

Herrera served his sentence in the Alambradas De Manacas Prison in Villa Clara Province, according to Amnesty International. The prison is notorious within Cuba for its harsh conditions. 

Herrera said that many political prisoners there were forced to share cells with violent criminals.

"In prison in Cuba, it's tough. It's difficult," said Herrera. "You have to fight for it, or you lose hope."

Herrera's time in Cuba left him with a deep appreciation for the political freedoms he enjoys in the United States. But his time in the socialist state also showed him the value of government services. Education, healthcare and other basic needs are all, in theory, provided by the state.

"Any government has to protect its owns people, but the people must have a way to be their own way," said Herrera, explaining his views on government social programs. "I believe sometimes, it is best to be in the middle this way. The Cuban government tried to provide everything. This cannot be done. Some here say there should be no programs–no handouts–and everybody is on their own. I don't believe in this, either."

After being released from prison in 1993, Herrera lived in Cuba with his family for another two years before the Cuban government approved a request for him and his family to emigrate to the United States. In 1995, after securing political refugee status from the United States, Herrera moved directly to Prince George's County where he began to establish a new life. 

Herrera has lived for the last seven years in an apartment on Gallatin Street. He is a father of four boys, Alfredo, 22; Pastor, 21; Mario, 14; and Jean-Carlo, 12, whom he raises with his ex-wife Mirian Rill. His children have attended Hyattsville Elementary School and Northwestern High School.

Hyattsville's biennial election is just under one month away. Voting is set for May 7. More than half of the Hyattsville City Council seats are up for election this year, one from each ward, plus a special election to fill the vacancy left by the mid-term resignation of former Councilor Nicole Hinds Mofor (Ward 4).

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article did not list all of the candidates running for election in Ward 5. The ommission has been corrected.