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TAMPA - Maria Nova left Cuba for the United States in 1968, when she was 18.
She has never returned, yet she thinks of her country - and the people she left behind - every day. Which is why she attended a rally with 100 other Cuban-Americans at MacFarlane Park on Monday to protest the island government's recent crackdown on free speech.
Last month, Cuban President Fidel Castro jailed 75 activists and executed three men convicted of hijacking a Cuban passenger ferry and trying to sail it to the United States.
Monday's protest was organized by Roberto Pizano of Tampa, who was a political prisoner in Cuba for 18 years for anti-Castro activity.
Pizano, a longtime Cuban rights activist, plans to send a letter detailing atrocities to human rights organizations and world leaders.