Cuba blasts foreign press for dissident coverage
By PAUL HAVEN
Associated Press Writer
HAVANA -- Cuba on Monday blasted foreign press coverage of a dissident
hunger striker as part of a campaign to discredit the island's political
system.
Guillermo Farinas, a freelance opposition journalist, has refused food
and water since Feb. 24 to protest the death of another hunger striker
and demand the release from jail of some 26 political prisoners said to
be in poor health.
"Cuba will not accept pressure or blackmail," proclaimed a red-letter
headline in the Communist Party daily Granma, which said, "Important
Western media groups are again calling attention to a prefabricated lie."
It was the first time Cuba's state news media had mentioned the hunger
strike.
Several foreign media organizations, including The Associated Press,
traveled to Farinas' home in the central city of Santa Clara last week
to interview him about his protest.
Farinas told AP he was not demanding the overthrow of the government or
greater freedom of expression. He said he would give up his fast if the
ailing political prisoners are released, but vowed to otherwise continue
until his own death.
Farinas passed out last week and relatives took him to a hospital, where
doctors administered fluids intravenously. A family spokeswoman said
Monday he is extremely weak.
"His eyes are sunken and he is more dehydrated," Licet Zamora told AP by
phone.
Granma said Farinas' legal troubles began because of a physical
altercation with a female co-worker - not politics - and described him
as a paid agent of the United States and employee of the U.S. Interests
Section, which Washington maintains in Cuba instead of an embassy. Cuba
has long described dissidents as "mercenaries" and claimed they get
money from Washington.
Farinas denies receiving funds from the U.S. government. The Cubanacan
Press news agency that he works for operates on a free Web log hosting
service and on Facebook, where posts also are free.
Other than a full shelf of books, there are no obvious signs of wealth
in Farinas' concrete two-story house, which has cracks in its crumbling
facade and simple wooden furniture inside.
The Granma article disavowed any government responsibility for Farinas'
fate.
"It is not medicine that should resolve a problem that was created
intentionally to discredit our political system but rather the patient
himself, unpatriotic people, foreign diplomats and the media that
manipulates him" Granma wrote. "The consequences will be their
responsibility, and theirs alone."
Elizardo Sanchez, head of the Havana-based Commission on Human Rights
and National Reconciliation, said in a statement that the article in
state-media meant that the government was "laying the groundwork to
justify the eventual death" of Farinas.
Granma said that Cuban doctors have repeatedly intervened to save the
man's life in the 22 other hunger strikes he has launched over the past
15 years. It also noted that hunger strikes put governments in a
difficult position, since many countries consider force feeding a
violation of human rights. It said such measures could only be taken
once "a patient is in shock."
Farinas' relatives say they will continue to bring him to the hospital
and allow doctors to intervene each time he loses consciousness, meaning
his hunger strike could go on for some time.
The death of the first hunger striker, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, sparked
condemnation of Cuba in Washington and several European capitals. Unlike
Farinas, Zapata Tamayo was in prison and was listed as a prisoner of
conscience by Amnesty International.
President Raul Castro said he regretted the man's death but denied he
was tortured and blamed problems on the island on Washington's 48-year
trade embargo.
Cuba blasts foreign press for dissident coverage - Florida AP -
MiamiHerald.com (8 March 2010)
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/08/1519164/cuba-blasts-foreign-press-for.html
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