Cuba’s other face
Cuba's other face From Tuesday's Globe and Mail Published on Tuesday, Mar. 02, 201012:00AM EST Last updated on Tuesday, Mar. 02, 2010 3:41AM EST
Canadians vacationing in Cuba may be too busy sipping mojitos andfrolicking in the ocean to consider last week's tragic death of a Cubanpolitical prisoner. But it is a powerful reminder of the island'srepressive underbelly, and illustrates the Cuban government's continuedand blatant disregard for human rights and civil liberties.
Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a 42-year-old carpenter and plumber, stoppedeating Dec. 3 to protest the conditions of his detention, and died in ahospital in Havana last Tuesday. He is the first political prisoner tostarve himself to death since 1972, when Pedro Luis Boitel, a studentleader and poet, suffered the same fatal end.
Mr. Zapata was detained in a 2003 crackdown known as "Black Spring",alongside 75 other opposition activists, who advocate peaceful politicalchange but are seen by the Cuban government as U.S. mercenaries. He wasinitially jailed for three years for "disrespecting authority"; however,this sentence was increased to 25 years in subsequent trials, after hewas charged with disobedience and disorder in a penal establishment.
Amnesty International called Mr. Zapata's death a "terrible illustrationof the despair facing prisoners of conscience who see no hope of beingfreed from their unfair and prolonged incarceration." The human rightsgroup called for the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience,and said a full investigation must be carried out to establish whetherill treatment played a role in the case of Mr. Zapata.
Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of State, and officials from theEuropean Union also condemned Mr. Zapata's death, with Spanish PrimeMinister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero calling for the release of allpolitical prisoners. Reina Luisa Tamayo accused the Cuban government ofmurdering her son.
Raul Castro, the Cuban president, took the unusual step of expressingpublic regret for Mr. Zapata's death. But he used the occasion not toannounce a political opening, but to deny that the deceased wasmistreated and to attack the U.S. The only torture taking place on theisland, Mr. Castro said, is at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay,where terror suspects are held.
It is clear that he does not intend to heed the international demand tofree all dissidents, or to permit peaceful opposition voices in thiscountry of 11 million.
In fact, Mr. Zapata's death provoked another act of repression, withdozens of his supporters locked up last week to prevent them fromattending his funeral in Banes, his home town in the east.
Cuba's opposition believes, however, that the tragedy will galvanizeresistance against the government. "I think there is going to be a'before' and an 'after' in the murder of Tamayo," said Marta BeatrizRoque, a Havana dissident also jailed in 2003 and later released forhealth reasons.
Historically, the Cuban dissident movement has been weak and fraughtwith internal conflict. Government control of all media – and thelimited access Cubans have to the Internet -has made it difficult foropposition groups to mobilize.
But the movement may find strength and unity from Mr. Zapata's decisionto starve himself to death. On Friday, five dissidents, four behindbars, announced they had begun hunger strikes aimed at forcing thegovernment to free all political prisoners. Mr. Zapata was a poor, blackman from the countryside – the very sector of society the CubanRevolution was supposed to help.
As Canadians book their all-inclusive Veradero getaways this March breakthey would do well to remember that for many, Cuba is no island paradise.
Cuba's other face – The Globe and Mail (2 March 2010)http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/cubas-other-face/article1486306/
Cuba offers payback plan for frozen bank accounts
Cuba offers payback plan for frozen bank accountsTue Mar 2, 2010 12:13pm ESTBy Marc Frank
HAVANA, March 2 (Reuters) – Cuba is offering foreign businesses 2percent annual interest over five years as part of a plan to repayhundreds of millions of dollars in bank accounts frozen by thecash-strapped government, diplomatic and business sources said this week.
The government is hoping the interest payments will encourage companiesto keep doing business with import-dependent Cuba while the countrygradually unblocks the frozen accounts. The aim is to do this withoutdepleting communist-led Cuba's financial reserves.
The offer from the state-run banks consists of monthly payments overfive years at 2 percent interest, with the proviso that payments can bemissed without penalty when money is not available.
"Some people are taking the deal. At least the funds go from anonperforming asset at no interest to a performing certificate ofdeposit," one western commercial officer said.
"The alternative seems to be nothing. It's an offer you can't refuse,"he told Reuters.
Cuban banks first informed depositors in November 2008 that they had noforeign exchange to back up the convertible peso, or CUC, in which manywere doing business.
At the time many traders sold their wares in exchange for CUCs, whichbanks honored at an exchange rate of $1.08 per unit, handing over cashor transferring funds out of the country.
But the banks told them that devastation from three 2008 hurricanes,wild price swings for imports and the country's main export, nickel, andthe international financial crisis so depleted Cuba of cash that"temporary" holds had to be placed on their accounts.
FROZEN ACCOUNTS
At one point, in February 2009, hundreds of suppliers, joint venturesand other companies had an estimated $1 billion frozen in Cuba's banks.
In August 2009, the government released part of the blocked money socompanies would continue selling to the country.
Suppliers since then have sought payments either offshore or withletters of credit stamped "CL," instructing banks to clear the funds.
Upon receiving Cuba's payment plan offer, some companies have asked forsome of the blocked funds up front, and others for a higher interestrate, sources said.
But attempts to bargain over the offer are met with a shrug, a "we willget back to you" and an explanation that it is not up to the banks, saidthe sources, all of whom wished to remain anonymous for fear ofretaliation by the government.
"The message is that the suppliers have had a good business with highmargins over the years, and might have them again if they stick it out,"a European commercial attache said.
The government has provided no information about the number and amountsof the frozen accounts, but President Raul Castro said in a Decemberspeech, "The amount of blocked funds has been reduced by more than a third."
"We ratify our firm willingness to honor to the last penny our debts, inrelation to the possibilities of the economy," he told the CubanNational Assembly.
The offer does not extend to joint venture partners and foreigncompanies administering hotels and banks. They also have had moneydifficulties with the Cuban government, but are said to be working outtheir own arrangements to recover funds.
Cuban officials told the National Assembly in December the country'seconomic crisis had stabilized, but government spending would be limitedin 2010. (Editing by Jeff Franks and Andrew Hay)
Cuba offers payback plan for frozen bank accounts | Reuters (2 March 2010)http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0215925320100302
Che Guevara serves as false example
Che Guevara serves as false exampleEric ReedIssue date: 3/3/10 Section: Opinion
The face of Che Guevara has become an icon for the spirit of revolution;however, his actions prove that he was anything but the stoic, selflessand idealistic leader that many think he was.
Before you buy a T-shirt with his face printed on the front and stareboldly into the distance shouting, "Viva la revolucion," let me bring afew of his less attractive qualities to light.
It's important that you first know Che was aggressively anti-American,and spoke out violently against capitalism and democracy. He called us"Yankee imperialists." In fact, Che just about cried when Russia removednuclear weapons from Cuba. As quoted in "The Nuclear Deception" byServando Gonzalez, he stated: "If the missiles had remained, we wouldhave used them against the very heart of America including New York. Wemust never establish peaceful coexistence. "
For a man touted as an "idealistic ruler," Che had no concept ofjustice. In "The Cuban Revolution: Years of Promise" by Teo A. Babun, heis quoted as saying: "We don't need proof to execute a man. Arevolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate."
Che supposedly renounced material possessions and wealth, yet he lived apampered lifestyle with privileges incomprehensible to most Cubans. Infact, upon gaining power in Cuba, Che ran a wealthy family out of theirhome under the pretext that they were traitors. Their home, a beachsidemansion in Havana, was among the most luxurious in Cuba.Che is idolized by those who wish to transcend political partisanshipdespite his famous statement: "My friends are friends only so long asthey think as I do politically."
Despite a reputation for being a successful socialist, Che was a failureas an economist. As Cuba's minister of economy and minister ofindustries he transformed what was one of the most prosperous countriesat the time into a third world country. Within the first year of hisadministration the Cuban peso, which had historically been comparable tothe U.S. dollar, was worth almost nothing. Cuba's industry was crippled,and as a result the lower class was left starving.
The bloodiest revolutions in Cuban history weren't led by Che, butagainst him. Peasants, disillusioned with Che, staged a revolt againstthe government in the Escambray Rebellion, an event similar to the Bayof Pigs.
The consequences were extreme for everybody who lived in the rural areawhere the rebellion was staged. Cuban militia units burned down homesacross the countryside, and imprisoned hundreds of thousands of ruralresidents in concentration camps. More than 70 percent of the guerrillasfighting against Prime Minister Fidel Castro's totalitarian regime wereexecuted upon capture. The "freedom fighter" is better known throughoutCuba as "the butcher," a man who suppressed any attempt at revolutionwith violence.
Che continued his murderous agenda as the overseer of La Cabanafortress, a Cuban military prison. In his book "Che Guevara: ABiography" Daniel James wrote Che willingly admitted to several thousandexecutions during the first year of Castro's regime. Che performed manyof these executions personally. When he couldn't fire the shot himselfhe watched from his office where he had a wall knocked out to overlookthe execution yard.
Many Americans are blindly devoted to this seemingly heroic character,but their enthusiasm may unknowingly promote ideas and philosophies thatthey themselves find unethical. Che was a terrorist, murderer, socialistand dictator at heart. Those who proudly wear the face of Che are makingone of two statements. The first is that they support violence,injustice and tyranny. The second is a blatant announcement of their ownignorance.
Che Guevara serves as false example – Opinion (2 March 2010)http://media.www.dixiesunlink.com/media/storage/paper1365/news/2010/03/03/Opinion/Che-Guevara.Serves.As.False.Example-3882535.shtml
Cuba swoops on mourners
Cuba swoops on mourners5:40 AM Wednesday Mar 3, 2010
The Cuban Government detained at least 126 people, including dissidentblogger Yoani Sanchez, in a crackdown after the hunger strike death ofpolitical prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a human rights group saidyesterday.
Many were attending or en route to Zapata's funeral on Friday in theeastern city of Banes when they were detained, most for less than 24hours, said Elizardo Sanchez, spokesman for the independent Cuban HumanRights Commission.
He said the Government was attempting to prevent protests over Zapata'sdeath, which was condemned internationally and prompted calls from theUnited States and Europe for Cuba to release its estimated 200 politicalprisoners.
Cuba swoops on mourners – World – NZ Herald News (2 March 2010)http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10629552
Cuban dissident died because nobody listened, laments Paya
Cuban dissident died because nobody listened, laments Paya
Havana, Cuba, Mar 2, 2010 / 02:53 pm (CNA).- The founder and leader ofthe Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Paya, said this weekend thatthe death of Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata was due to the lazy reactionof the political world to warnings of his arrest and the abuse hereceived in prison.
In an article published on his website www.oswaldopaya.org, theChristian Liberation Movement (CLM) leader said, "Before theheartbreaking death of Orlando, we made repeated calls on this websiteand other media sources to save the life of Orlando Zapata."
"Other Cuban democracy supporters, in Cuba and abroad, did the same."He added that "Reina, Orlando's mother, even showed the t-shirt of herson bloodied from abuse in prison, and almost nobody listened."
"This was just like when Pedro Luis Boitel went on a hunger strike in1972, or when many years before, Che ordered executions by firing squadat La Cabana. In short, over the last 51 years…almost nobody haslistened to the Cubans," Paya lamented.
Paya said that he has been inundated with requests by the media forinterviews about the Zapata case, but he wondered: "How long before theyagain forget about the suffering of the Cubans? Will another brotherhave to die for them to listen?"
He then called on the media and nations around the world to act now tosecure the release of all political prisoners and thus avoid anothertragedy.
Cuban dissident died because nobody listened, laments Paya :: CatholicNews Agency (CNA) (2 March 2010)http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/cuban_dissident_died_because_nobody_listened_laments_paya/
Cuba: Fatal hunger strike creates a martyr
Cuba: Fatal hunger strike creates a martyrA bricklayer has electrified the dissident community and dimmedprospects of changing international Cuba policies.By Nick MiroffPublished: March 2, 2010 11:12 ET
HAVANA, Cuba — Orlando Zapata Tamayo wasn't a prominent voice in Cuba'ssmall opposition movement. He wasn't one of the dissident activists whomforeign reporters often call for quotes, and he didn't have a blog or anacademic degree.
But when the 42-year-old bricklayer died Feb. 23 after an 85-day hungerstrike in prison, he made a powerful protest statement that haselectrified the island's fragmented dissident community and brought aflood of fresh criticism to Cuba's human rights record.
For the Cuban government, Zapata's death has been a public relationsdisaster, particularly in Europe, where Spanish newspapers have devotedextensive coverage to the story. Spain's influential daily El Paispublished nearly 20 articles and editorials on Zapata's death in the sixdays following his death, and several leading U.S. papers have alsocondemned the Castro government.
The cascade of negative press comes at a particularly bad time forHavana, as Spain's socialist government has been pushing to change theEuropean Union's common position on Cuba, which calls for human rightsimprovements as a condition for better relations. Now, analysts say theuproar in Europe over Zapata's death will make changes to Cuba-EUrelations unlikely.
The episode has also further dimmed the prospects of changes to U.Spolicy at a time when tensions were already high following the Dec. 3arrest of a U.S. contractor, Alan Gross, working on behalf of the U.S.Agency for International Development. The 60-year-old Maryland residentwas arrested for distributing illegal satellite equipment on the islandand is being held in a maximum-security prison, though he has not beenformally charged.
With Gross' arrest, and now Zapata's death, the new effort in Congressto lift the ban on American travel to Cuba and ease restrictions on foodsales to the island will also likely face intensified opposition.
Even Rep. Jim McGovern, the Massachusetts Democrat who has been aleading voice for Cuba policy reform in Congress, told the Miami Heraldthat the Castro government "should have intervened earlier to preventthis tragedy," adding "his death is on their conscience."
Cuba has been slow to respond to the criticism, though in recent days,it has increasingly challenged the version of events — and the versionof Zapata's character — put forth by dissident activists and foreigneditorials.
On Monday evening, Cuban state television broadcast a lengthy reportthat featured interviews with several doctors who treated Zapata,detailing the medical care he received and the health problems thatensued from his staunch refusal to eat. The report was the first mentionof Zapata on Cuban television since his death, and for many ordinaryCubans, it was likely to be the first time they'd ever heard of him.
The television report also included what appeared to be secretly tapedfootage of Zapata's mother, Reina Tamayo, who has accused the Cubangovernment of "murdering" her son. In the footage, she appears inmeetings with Zapata's doctors, thanking them effusively for their care,while the confidentiality of the meeting vanishes through a hidden lensfilming from somewhere inside the doctor's desk.
"Our relations with his family were cordial," one of Zapata's physicianssays in the report, which goes on to use more secretly taped recordingsto allege that anti-Castro groups in Miami had plotted to manipulateZapata's hunger strike for political gain, showing little concern forhis health.
Cuba's communist party newspaper Granma also tried to undercut Zapata'shallowed image over the weekend with an article describing him as a"common criminal" who had been manipulated by anti-Castro "mercenaries"in the service of U.S. foreign policy. It listed several prior criminalconvictions on Zapata's record, including an assault conviction in 2000after he fractured another man's skull with a machete.
Still, it was unclear why Cuban authorities — who often complain ofunfair coverage in the foreign press — had allowed so much time to passbefore providing information about Zapata that would contrast with whathis supporters were saying. Their efforts at damage control are probablytoo late to alter the heroic image of Zapata that was erected by Cubandissidents in the days following his death.
They have depicted him as a humble, courageous everyman who facednumerous beatings and abuses in prison, ultimately turning to the hungerstrike as a last-resort form of protest. His refusal to wear a uniformand frequent clashes with prison guards stretched a three-year prisonterm — for crimes that included "resistance" and "disrespectingauthority"— into a 25-year sentence.
He was considered a "prisoner of conscience" by Amnesty International —one of about 200 political prisoners currently held in Cuban jails,according to rights activists and Western governments.
The island's dissident community, meanwhile, has been galvanized byZapata's death. Scattered groups of bloggers, reformers, human rightsactivists, hardliners and others say their differences have beensmoothed over with Zapata's emergence as a martyr.
"It's had a catalyzing effect," said human rights activist ElizardoSanchez. "We've all speaking with one voice." Sanchez said severaldissidents have launched their own hunger strikes since Zapata's death,and that symbolic acts of protest would continue from opposition membersinside and outside prison. What's not clear is how many ordinary Cubanswill notice.
Cuba dissident death | Orlando Zapata Tamayo (2 March 2010)http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/cuba/100302/hunger-strike-dissident-death
Cuba TV report denies gov’t let hunger striker die
Posted on Monday, 03.01.10Cuba TV report denies gov't let hunger striker dieBy WILL WEISSERTAssociated Press Writer
HAVANA, Cuba — Cuba devoted nearly a third of its official newscastMonday night to denying that state doctors purposely let a jaileddissident die from a hunger strike.
It claimed the case, which sparked an international outcry, beganbecause the victim wanted television and other comforts in his prison cell.
Orlando Zapata Tamayo died Feb. 23 after refusing food since December,the first Cuban victim of a hunger strike in 40 years. Imprisoned in2003 for disrespecting authority, he was sentenced to 25 years foractivism behind bars and was considered a "prisoner of conscience" byAmnesty International.
A wide range of figures, from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary RodhamClinton to socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ofSpain, decried the death. They called on Cuba to free all its politicalprisoners, which human rights groups say number around 200.
On Monday, state-controlled television aired a report that stretchednearly 10 minutes during the half-hour news program, which is broadcastsimultaneously on three of Cuba's five national TV channels.
Doctors who treated Zapata Tamayo, a 42-year-old construction worker,said they tried to get him to eat.
"We explained to him the consequences of his decision at every turn andhow much he was endangering his life with this. But he kept it up," saidMaria Ester Hernandez, identified as a doctor for Interior Ministryofficials.
There was also footage of his mother, Reina Luisa Tamayo, thanking "thebest doctors for trying to give Orlando life." It seemed to have beenshot with a hidden camera as she spoke inside a doctor's office.
The afternoon of her son's death, Tamayo did interviews with radiostations in Florida shouting that Cuba's government had let her son diebecause he dared oppose the Castro government.
The TV report even included an interview with a nutritionist whoexplained the effects of a hunger strike on the body.
Human rights groups say Zapata Tamayo was refusing food to drawattention to Cuba's human rights record and its treatment of politicalprisoners. The newscast contended he refused food because authoritieswouldn't put a TV set, a stove and a phone in his cell.
Zapata Tamayo was jailed in his native Banes – the same eastern townwhere Fidel Castro married his first wife – but was eventuallytransferred to Havana. The night before he died, he was taken to a hospital.
President Raul Castro took the unprecedented step last week ofexpressing public regret about the death. He said Zapata Tamayo wastreated by top doctors and denied he was tortured.
State newspapers, meanwhile, have described Zapata Tamayo as a commoncriminal falsely elevated to martyr status.
Also Monday, Fidel Castro released an opinion column that was read onthe same newscast. He made no mention of Zapata Tamayo by name, butdefended Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who some havecriticized for visiting Cuba as part of a trip that began hours afterZapata Tamayo died.
"Lula has know for many years that our country has never torturedanyone, never ordered the murder of an adversary, never lied to itspeople," Castro wrote.
Cuba dismisses dissidents as paid agents of Washington, out to topplethe government.
Shortly before the newscast, the Cuban Commission on Human Rights andNational Reconciliation – which the government does not recognize butlargely allows to operate – released a statement saying 115 oppositionactivists and other Zapata Tamayo supporters were detained following hisdeath and held long enough to miss his funeral in Banes.
Most of those arrested hailed from eastern Cuba and were released aftera short time, the commission said.
Cuba TV report denies gov't let hunger striker die – Americas AP -MiamiHerald.com (1 March 2010)http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/01/1507501/cuba-tv-report-denies-govt-let.html
They lack any vestige of decency
Posted on Tuesday, 03.02.10`They lack any vestige of decency'BY CARLOS ALBERTO MONTANERwww.firmaspress.com
`Today, Feb. 25, we're burying him,'' shouted Reina, the distraughtmother, in an interview with a European TV network.
She was like a wounded beast. “It was premeditated murder,'' shecharged as she wept. She is a black, humble woman, like her son, asimple mason who wanted to be free. Reina wanted to carry her son in herarms to the cemetery, accompanied by a few distraught friends, all ofthem opposition democrats.
She couldn't. The political police refused. Always the political police,intimidating, punishing, browbeating society so it may obey in silence.They're like the dogs that herd the sheep.
Poor mothers! Some weeks ago, a mother like Reina — though older andwhite — died in Cuba, Gloria Amaya. Three of her sons went to prison.One of them, Ariel Sigler Amaya, is being killed for being a rebel, sameas happened to Orlando Zapata Tamayo. He entered prison weighing 90kilos. Today, he weighs 50 and needs a wheelchair. He doesn't have longto live, his brother tells me.
Doña Gloria, a fragile, small elderly woman, had two ribs broken by thepolitical police, who kicked her in the chest. She had protested becausethey were mistreating her son, a political prisoner, and was almostkilled for her efforts. From the floor, twisting in agony, she continuedto beg for her son's release. Yet Raúl Castro says that no one istortured in Cuba. Liar!
Zapata Tamayo's death has three serious internal consequences for thedictatorship of the brothers Castro. For the opposition democrats inthat country, that sacrifice reinforces the commitment to fight. Perhapsit's a feature of our culture: Loyalty to those who gave up their livesis never betrayed.
But Zapata Tamayo's blood has another internal effect. It shames thecommunists. It demoralizes and weakens them. It places them on the sideof the murderers. Some years ago, when the political police exterminatedby drowning 32 persons who were trying to flee aboard a boat called the13 de Marzo, most of them women and children, many militants quit theParty, filled with repugnance. That was too much.
Outside Cuba, this new crime galvanizes the exiles in support of a justcause. The day Orlando died, the news most widely diseminated by Twitterwas that. A wave of anger and solidarity surged through a dispersedcommunity that numbers close to three million, descendants included.
Newspapers 'round the world gave front-page treatment to the grim newscoming from Havana. Many television stations began their newscasts byreporting what had happened in words filled with consternation. Theimage of the dictatorship crashed loudly to the ground and that noise,of course, had a deep political repercussion.
It is expected that Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos willend his absurd campaign to demolish the European Union's common stancetoward the Cuban dictatorship. No greater stubbornness has ever beenseen in the defense of a dishonorable cause than Moratinos' effort tobenefit the Castros' tyranny.
The Cuban apparatus of defamation is preparing its counterattack, ofcourse. One of its minor pawns began by saying that those who condemnedthis horrendous death wept crocodile tears. Others will say that ZapataTamayo was a common criminal or a terrorist in the service of the CIA.
They lack any vestige of decency. They'll say anything. But theunassailable truth is something else, as his mother, Reina, shoutedthrough tears — Orlando was murdered with premeditation because heasked for freedom for himself and his people. His example will weigh fora long time on the history of Cuba.
`They lack any vestige of decency' – Other Views – MiamiHerald.com (2March 2010)http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/02/1507492/they-lack-any-vestige-of-decency.html
Cuba obtains domestic cabbage seed for the first time
Cuba obtains domestic cabbage seed for the first time
The species was created by specialists of the Institute NationalFundamental Research Tropical Agriculture and cultivated by framer ArielGonzalez Molerio of the Jose Marti Credit and Services Cooperative.
Adolfo Nodals Rodriguez, head of urban and suburban agriculture, toldACN news agency, in a recent visit to Ciego de Avila, this result ispart of a program to reduce imports of vegetable seeds and at the sametime aims at greater production per area.
He said that Cuba purchases abroad two-thirds of the seed that theannual demand to fill horticulture and it is necessary to substitutethis import entirely with local productions.
The cabbage harvested by Gonzalez Molerio reached at 65 days of itsplanting, its maximum development with profits of over eight tons peracre, a 20 percent higher than other varieties, said the Gonzalez inmeeting with other farmers.
This initiative will be extended to other cooperatives Ciego de Avilaand state farms, said José Manuel León, Agriculture specialist in thiscentral province.
Cabbage is rich in vitamins A, B, C, E and minerals, it helps fightbreast, lung, stomach, ovary and colon cancers, counteracts obesity andis effective in those have osteoporosis, according to studies.
Source: escambray.cu
Publication date: 3/2/2010
Cuba obtains domestic cabbage seed for the first time (2 March 2010)http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=59770
Médicos oficiales recomiendan hospitalizar a periodista cubano en huelga
Publicado el martes, 03.02.10Médicos oficiales recomiendan hospitalizar a periodista cubano en huelgaPor AFPLA HABANA
Dos médicos del Gobierno cubano, que examinaron al periodista disidente Guillermo Fariñas, en huelga de hambre y sed hace seis días en su casa, le recomendaron hospitalización pues está "muy deshidratado'', informó telefónicamente este martes un opositor presente.
"El lunes vinieron dos médicos y una enfermera del Gobierno, lo estuvieron examinando y lo encontraron muy deshidratado, con síntomas de deterioro notable'', dijo a la AFP Francisco Chaviano, quien dirige el movimiento "Agenda para la Transición'' y visita a Fariñas en Santa Clara (280 km al este de La Habana).
"Le recomendaron el ingreso (médico), ponerse sueros de hidratación'', y "le dijeron que se van a mantener al tanto del caso'', añadió Chaviano, quien fue liberado en agosto de 2007 luego de 13 años de cárcel.
Fariñas, un sicólogo de 48 años, que ha realizado más de 20 huelgas de hambre y ha estado preso tres veces por su actividad opositora, inició la protesta el miércoles pasado, tras las muerte un día antes del también huelguista y preso político Orlando Zapata, para exigir la libertad de presos políticos enfermos.
Chaviano lamentó que, pese a la recomendación de los médicos, el periodista ''persiste'' en su protesta. "Diéramos cualquier cosa porque él dejara la huelga, es una gente muy valiosa " y "siempre es un riesgo'' para la vida.
La huelga de Fariñas fue secundada por otros cuatro presos políticos cubanos, dos de los cuales, Diosdado González, de 47 años, y Eduardo Díaz (58), depusieron el lunes la protesta, según dijo el activista Elizardo Sánchez, de la Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Nacional.
Sánchez precisó que Fidel Suárez (49) y Nelson Molinet (45), también presos desde 2003 en la región occidental de la isla y considerados "prisioneros de conciencia'' por Amnistía Internacional, continúan la protesta, al igual que Fariñas.
En un informe entregado a la prensa, la Comisión destacó que al menos 126 disidentes fueron detenidos temporalmente por fuerzas de seguridad del Gobierno, tras la muerte de Zapata, y que ya fueron todos liberados excepto Isael Poveda, quien "fue internado en una prisión de alta seguridad'' en Guantánamo (extremo este).
Según la oposición, en Cuba hay unos 200 presos políticos, 65 de ellos reconocidos como presos de conciencia por Amnistía Internacional, aunque el Gobierno cubano los considera "mercenarios'' al servicio de Estados Unidos.
Médicos oficiales recomiendan hospitalizar a periodista cubano en huelga - Cuba – ElNuevoHerald.com (2 March 2010)http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2010/03/02/666179/medicos-oficiales-recomiendan.html
Recent Comments