Cuban dissident died because nobody listened, laments Paya

Cuban dissident died because nobody listened, laments Paya

Havana, Cuba, Mar 2, 2010 / 02:53 pm (CNA).- The founder and leader of
the Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Paya, said this weekend that
the death of Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata was due to the lazy reaction
of the political world to warnings of his arrest and the abuse he
received in prison.

In an article published on his website www.oswaldopaya.org, the
Christian Liberation Movement (CLM) leader said, "Before the
heartbreaking death of Orlando, we made repeated calls on this website
and other media sources to save the life of Orlando Zapata."

"Other Cuban democracy supporters, in Cuba and abroad, did the same."
He added that "Reina, Orlando's mother, even showed the t-shirt of her
son bloodied from abuse in prison, and almost nobody listened."

"This was just like when Pedro Luis Boitel went on a hunger strike in
1972, or when many years before, Che ordered executions by firing squad
at La Cabana. In short, over the last 51 years…almost nobody has
listened to the Cubans," Paya lamented.

Paya said that he has been inundated with requests by the media for
interviews about the Zapata case, but he wondered: "How long before they
again forget about the suffering of the Cubans? Will another brother
have to die for them to listen?"

He then called on the media and nations around the world to act now to
secure the release of all political prisoners and thus avoid another
tragedy.

Cuban dissident died because nobody listened, laments Paya :: Catholic
News Agency (CNA) (2 March 2010)
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/cuban_dissident_died_because_nobody_listened_laments_paya/