threatened to "starve" himself to death unless he is released, BosNewsLife learned Thursday, July 21. "I was imprisoned just for freely saying what I think and for practising independent journalism on this island," said journalist Mario Enrique Mayo Hernandez, 38, in a message released by his wife, Maidelin Guerra Alvarez.
"I have never lied about human rights violations in Cuba," said Mayo Hernandez. "This is why I will maintain my hunger strike until I obtain my freedom or I die. If death is the price to pay, I am ready to pay it, but I want the world to know that nothing short of freedom will now be able to stop me."
He stressed he was not prepared to "wait until the government deigns to grant the release of 20 detainees because they are ill or because [President] Fidel Castro needs to improve his international image" and "even less intention of waiting 10 or 20 years (…)."
GROUP ALARMED
Reporters Without Borders, a rights group fighting for press freedom which first obtained the message, said it was "alarmed" about the fate of Mayo Hernandez, who apparently began his hunger strike on July 14.
"We take his warning seriously and the Cuban government would be well-advised to do so as well," Reporters Without Borders said. "Must the government wait until one of the 21 journalists held since the Black Spring of 2003 dies before it finally agrees to release the others?"
As editor of the independent Felix Varela news agency based in the eastern province of Camaguey, Mayo Hernandez has been in prison since March 2003. He was reportedly sentenced a month later to 20 years in prison for "threatening the state’s independence or territorial integrity."
OFTEN TRANSFERRED
He was "transferred from prison to prison four times since his arrest and has been in Kilo 7 prison in Camaguey since June 21 [this year]," Reporters Without Borders said.
It suggested there are serious health concerns about Mayo Hernandez who it claimed "had several spells in prison infirmaries or hospital because of his many ailments, which include pulmonary emphysema, high blood pressure and inflammation of the prostate."
The journalist "already went on hunger strike for a month in November to protest against prison conditions and mistreatment by guards," the group added.
Besides the journalist dozens of other dissidents, including Christian believers, have been detained by the Castro government, human rights groups say. In letters obtained by BosNewsLife detainees have complained about harsh treatment. Castro has refused to recognize the term "dissident’ saying that those detained are "mercenaries" from the United States. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Cuba).
