Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas receiving fluids intravenously
By JUAN O. TAMAYO
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Dissident Guillermo Fariñas remained in a Cuban hospital Monday in what
one human rights activist called a ``milimetric'' government concession
to his hunger strike.
Fariñas was stable but weak and suffering from severe headaches at the
intensive care unit of the Arnaldo Milan Castro hospital in his hometown
of Santa Clara, said his mother, Alicia Hernandez.
He is receiving fluids intravenously but continues to refuse to eat or
drink, Hernandez said by telephone from the hospital.
Fariñas was hospitalized when he fainted Thursday, on the 16th day of
his protest to demand the Cuban government release about two dozen
political prisoners reported with serious health problems.
He also lost consciousness and was rushed to the hospital on March 3,
but at that time doctors hydrated him with intravenous fluids, declared
him stable the same day and refused to admit him.
His current stay in the hospital means the government ``made a
millimetric concession'' from its previous ``very dangerous'' position
of rehydrating Fariñas and sending him home, said Havana human rights
activist Elizardo Sánchez.
A group of bloggers, writers and artists from Cuba and other countries
meanwhile launched an online letter, titled ``Orlando Zapata Tamayo: I
accuse the Cuban government,'' to demand the immediate release of all
political prisoners.
Zapata, 42, a political prisoner who was serving sentences totaling
about 36 years, died Feb. 23 after an 83-day hunger strike. Fariñas
launched his protest one day later. There are nearly 5,000 signers of
the letter, which can be found at at http://orlandozapata
tamayo.blogspot.com/ .
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/03/16/1531151/cuban-dissident-guillermo-farinas.html
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