Cuba dissident Gustavo Arcos dies

Cuba dissident Gustavo Arcos dies

Dissident sources in Cuba say a prominent critic of the communist
government, Gustavo Arcos, has died from pneumonia at the age of 79.

Mr Arcos fought alongside the island's leader, Fidel Castro, in the
attack that launched the 1959 revolution.

But he came to believe the government was too authoritarian, and was
jailed for counter-revolutionary activities.

He later founded the Cuban Committee for Human Rights, one of the first
big dissident groups to emerge in Cuba.

"He was one of the most respected people in the human rights movement in
Cuba," fellow activist Carlos Menendez told the Associated Press.

Bullet wound

Mr Arcos was shot in the hip during the failed assault on the Moncada
barracks led by Fidel Castro in 1953, and was left partially paralysed.

The rebel group was imprisoned but later pardoned, and Mr Arcos later
toured Latin America gathering supplies of money and weapons for another
attempt to overthrow the dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Following their triumph in 1959, Mr Arcos became Cuba's ambassador to
Belgium, but became disillusioned with the revolution, reportedly
regretting that it had taken a turn towards communism from nationalist
beginnings.

He was successively imprisoned, on one occasion for illegally attempting
to leave the country.

Last week, Fidel Castro, who is the same age as Mr Arcos, handed over
power temporarily for health reasons.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/5258362.stm

Published: 2006/08/08 23:24:08 GMT