Guillermo Fariñas, the next victim?

For the last sixteen days, independent Cuban journalist Guillermo Fariñas has been on a hunger strike in his home in Santa Clara, in central Cuba, demanding the release of 26 political prisoners who the Castro brothers are unjustly imprisoning despite their deteriorated health condition.

Fariñas has insisted he will take his protest to the bitter end, to which the Cuban government has responded by washing their hands, blaming "stateless persons, foreign diplomats and media that manipulates him.”

Additionally, Fariñas has said that he is taking over from Orlando Zapata Tamayo, prisoner of conscience who died on February 23 after 86 days on a hunger strike, in protest of the cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment he and other companions were subject to in Castro’s prisons. The journalist has said that his death can serve “to demonstrate to the world that political assassination is an institutionalized matter” in Cuba.

The Global Cuban Solidarity Movement unites in an international outcry for an end to the deaths in Cuba and, with Guillermo Fariñas, demands the release of the dozens of Cuban political prisoners whose state of health is incompatible with the subhuman conditions in which they survive in prison. It is only a matter of time before another death within internal dissidence or political imprisonment, and it’s in the hands of the Castro regime to prevent it.

Will Guillermo Fariñas become the next victim of the repressive Cuban system? For democrats all over the world who opt for a democracy in Cuba, it’s up to us, at the very least, to tirelessly denounce his situation. Denunciation is the word of command.

The Global Cuba Solidarity Movement is composed of organizations and individuals around the world who support freedom for Cubans through a democratic transition. The Movement is aimed at increasing the international consciousness and support of the growing Cuban movement of pro-democracy. Through these efforts, Cubans on the island who are fighting for their freedom know that they matter to the world and their cause is believed in. For more information about the Global Cuba Solidarity Movement, please visit: www.solidaridadcuba.org / Write to info@solidaridadcuba.org