Cuban Hunger Strike to Free Political Prisoners – Cuba 2010

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Dissidents in Cuba have staged many hunger strikes - but the hunger strikes of 2009 and 2010 had a significant impact, in part, because one protester died while in prison and another was near death. The negative worldwide publicity caused by the hunger strikers pressured the Cuban government to authorize a release of 52 prisoners.

Cuba Country in the Caribbean

Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean meet. It is east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the U.S. state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. The area of the Republic of Cuba is 110,860 square kilometers (42,800 sq mi). The island of Cuba is the largest island in Cuba and in the Caribbean, with an area of 105,006 square kilometers (40,543 sq mi), and the second-most populous after Hispaniola, with over 11 million inhabitants.

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Background

On February 24, 2010, this particular protest campaign for the release of Cuban political prisoners was one of, if not the greatest struggle between the Cuban government and the political opposition. Previous protesters before this campaign including Orlando Zapata Tamayo and Guillermo Hernández, fought for democracy within Cuba, including freedoms of speech and press, freedom to organize political parties, access to the internet, and ultimately, western democratic political freedoms. Most of those imprisioned were arrested and tried in 2003 accused of accepting aid from the United States. The major objective of this protest initiated by Orlando Zapata Tamayo, and carried on by Guillermo Fariñas, was to improve prison conditions for political prisoners.

Guillermo Fariñas

Guillermo Fariñas Hernández is a Cuban psychologist, an independent journalist and a political protester, who has participated in over 23 hunger strikes in Cuba to protest the actions of the Cuban regime. Fariñas began his hunger strike on February 24 of 2010, after another prisoner, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, died while on hunger strike. Fariñas’ strike was to not only protest the death of Zapata but also for the release of 26 other gravely ill prisoners who he believed were not receiving proper medical assistance.

Guillermo Fariñas Cuban dissident

Guillermo Fariñas Hernández is a Cuban doctor of psychology, independent journalist and political dissident in Cuba. He has conducted 23 hunger strikes over the years to protest various elements of the Cuban regime. He has stated that he is ready to die in the struggle against censorship in Cuba.

The Protests

As Hernández started to decline in health, other anti-communist groups stepped up to assist him in his protest, including the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe . A letter of support for Fariñas protest was sent by "Viasna" from the Human Rights Center as well. However, even with the hunger strike and some world support, the Cuban government showed no signs of backing down as they felt they were being pressured and even tried to argue it was because of paid U.S., mercenaries trying to overthrow their political system. On May 2, 2010 the government allowed the "Ladies in White", a non-violent activist group composed of the wives prisioners to march every Sunday . While President Raul Castro claimed he would not give into the "blackmail of the hunger strike", he changed his mind after mediation by the Catholic Church and released 52 prisioners.

Ladies in White Cuban opposition movement

Ladies in White is an opposition movement in Cuba founded in 2003 by wives and other female relatives of jailed dissidents. The women protest the imprisonments by attending Mass each Sunday wearing white dresses and then silently walking through the streets dressed in white clothing. The color white is chosen to symbolize peace.

Aftermath

After the Cuban government had negotiations with the Roman Catholic Church and finally agreed to move the political inmates to prisons that gave better medical assistance and allowed them to be closer to their families. Elizardo Sanchez, who is an activist and spokesperson for the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation, placed charges against the Cuban government for unruly arrests as well as ‘acts of repression’ against the Eastern Democratic Alliance in Santiago de Cuba. July 7, 2010 was the day that discussions between the Cuban government and the Catholic Church ended with an agreement to release the total of 52 prisoners, including the 26 inmates for which Fariñas had protested . On July 8, Fariñas ended his hunger strike, which had lasted just over 130 days.

Santiago de Cuba City in Cuba

Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some 870 km (540 mi) southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana.

Catholic Church Christian church led by the Bishop of Rome

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with approximately 1.3 billion baptised Catholics worldwide as of 2017. As the world's "oldest continuously functioning international institution", it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilisation. The church is headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the pope. Its central administration, the Holy See, is in the Vatican City, an enclave within the city of Rome in Italy.

See also

Communist Party of Cuba ruling party of Cuba

The Communist Party of Cuba is the ruling political party in the Republic of Cuba. It is a communist party of the Marxist–Leninist model. The Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the party to be the "leading force of society and of the state". Since April 2011, the First Secretary of the Central Committee has been Raúl Castro, younger brother of the previous First Secretary Fidel Castro, who died on 25 November 2016. The Second Secretary has been José Ramón Machado Ventura.

Hunger strike method of non-violent resistance or pressure

A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not solid food.

Orlando Zapata Tamayo was a Cuban mason, plumber, and political activist and prisoner who died after fasting for more than 80 days. His death received international attention, and was viewed as a significant setback in Cuba's relationship with the U.S. and the EU.

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References

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