Guillermo Fariñas
| Guillermo Fariñas | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 January 1962 Santa Clara, Cuba |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Guillermo Fariñas Hernández (born 3 January 1962) ("El Coco") is a Cuban doctor of psychology,[1] independent journalist[2] and political dissident in Cuba. He has conducted 23 hunger strikes over the years to protest various elements of the Cuban regime.[3] He has stated that he is ready to die in the struggle against censorship in Cuba.[2]
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[edit] Early life
Fariñas was born in Santa Clara. He won medals in 1981 while a Cuban soldier in Angola, when he fought under Colonel Antonio Enrique Luzon, and he was wounded in battle during the war. In 1982 Fariñas went to the U.S.S.R. to Tambov for military education. In 1993 he was elected in Cuba, as the General Secretary of Healthcare Union Workers. In 1995 he was sent to jail after blowing the whistle on corrupt activities of the hospital board director.[citation needed] In an 2007 interview with Harper's magazine ("The Battle of Ideas") Fariñas described State Security officers detaining him in Santa Clara, forcibly committing him to a psychiatric hospital ward overnight, and supervising his injection with unknown drugs.
Fariñas's father was also part of the Cuban military forces, and fought in the Congo under Che Guevara in the 1960s.
[edit] 2006 hunger strike
In 2006, Fariñas held a seven-month hunger strike to protest against the Internet censorship in Cuba. He ended it in Autumn 2006, due to severe health problems.[2] His acts have received worldwide attention and Reporters Without Borders awarded its cyber-freedom prize to Guillermo Fariñas in 2006.,[4] and received the International Human Rights Award at Weimar[5]
[edit] 2010 hunger strike
On February 26, 2010, Fariñas declared yet another hunger strike to protest the death of fellow dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo. He has indicated that he will remain on strike until twenty-six other prisoners of conscience who are seriously ill are set free. As of April 1, 2010, he has been in a hospital in his hometown of Santa Clara, receiving fluids intravenously since collapsing on March 11, 2010.[3] His condition is said to be weak, but stable.[3]
[edit] Cuban government response
"Cuba will not accept pressure or blackmail, important Western media groups are again calling attention to a prefabricated lie. 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. The consequences will be their responsibility, and theirs alone."
The Cuban state newspaper Granma stated that Fariñas's 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.[6]
On July 8, 2010, Fariñas ended his 134-day hunger strike Thursday, following signs the communist government is making good on its promise to release 52 political prisoners.
[edit] 2010 Sakharov Prize
On 20 October 2010 Fariñas was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament.[7] In presenting the award the parliament commended Fariñas saying that he was a "symbol of the fight for freedom of speech".[8] This marks the third time that the award has been made to Cuban dissidents.[9]
In December 2010 the Cuban government denied Fariñas an exit visa necessary to travel to Strasbourg to accept the award. In response the European Parliament said that it would have an empty chair to represent him at the ceremony. Fariñas said, "I believe that the Cuban government has shown over the years that it is behaving in an arrogant manner."[10]
[edit] References
- ^ "Psychologist and independent journalist Guillermo Fariñas transferred to new unit.". Net for Cuba. http://www.netforcuba.org/english/News-EN/2006/Aug/News1182.htm.
- ^ a b c "Guillermo Fariñas ends seven-month-old hunger strike for Internet access". Reporters Without Borders. 1 September 2006. http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=16397.
- ^ a b c Cuban hunger striker rejects Spanish offer by Esteban Israel, Reuters, March 29, 2010
- ^ "Cyber-freedom prize for 2006 awarded to Guillermo Fariñas of Cuba". Reporters Without Borders. http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20125.
- ^ see "Coco's" personal biography
- ^ a b Cuba blasts the foreign press for coverage of dissident hunger strike by Paul Haven, Associated Press, March 8, 2010
- ^ http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5izR_Rr9NDPI3KFXLLXeTCFSC4JsQ?docId=4898350 EU Parliament awards its 2010 human rights prize to Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas.
- ^ http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6134427,00.html EU awards Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas top human rights prize
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11594804 Cuba dissident Farinas awarded Sakharov Prize by EU
- ^ http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/12/201012155591148466.html Cuba refuses dissident exit visa
[edit] External links
- Suicide as a Political Weapon in Cuba by Havana Times
- Cuban Hunger Striker in Hospital After Passing Out by Forbes
