[Marxism] Hunger striker's life staked on freedom

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Though it's not an attitude shared by the revolutionary leaders
of Cuba, suicide has a long history here in Cuba. Readers may
remember the final stanza of LA BAYAMESA, Cuba's national anthem
is "Morir por la patria es vivir" (To die for the country is to
live".) Readers interested in this topic might enjoy reading an
enthralling book, TO DIE IN CUBA. He's a Venezuelan-American who
has written probably twenty books on Cuban history, mostly pre
but some including post-Revolution. 

Anyway, back to this guy Farinas.

This man, endorsed by the MIAMI HERALD, really thinks he should
have the right, a right for which he says he's prepared to die,
to denounce Cuba all over the world. Now we know people like 
this are paid by Washington to do this kind of dirty work, and
an international campaign has been orchestrated for this one 
man, who is supposedly starving himself to death in Cuba,
though one of his Christian backers says he eats from time
to time during this hunger strike he bagan on January 31.

That's a long time to be on a hunger strike, don't you think?

I guess like all Cubans, they won't hand him a bill when he
is ready to be discharged from the hospital, will they...
They only have bills in the hard currency sections of Cuban
hospitals. They probably don't even have billing forms...
Note that the MH hopes he will recover, but doesn't say if
anyone should assist his recovery. Over in the United States
controlled sliver of Cuba, called Guantanamo, they force them
to eat, sticking tubes up their noses to prevent them from
starving themselves. I guess Castro's regime is letting this
man do what he wants with his life. 

Here is ONE Cuban comment on this issue. More will be coming.
http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs687.html

NOTE ALSO: There is no EDITORIAL about Carlos and Elisa Alvarez. 
I guess the MH editors thinks THEY should just rot in prison.
Along with that other guy, Orlando Bosquete, formally declared
innocent of the 1982 charges against him, but still being held
on ICE anyway, though found INNOCENT. That's the kind of setup
which must be imposed on Cuba, right this minute now, please.


Walter Lippmann
Havana, Cuba
===========================================

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/editorial/14776251.htm

Hunger striker's life staked on freedom
OUR OPINION: CUBA'S INTERNET BLOCKADE AN ABUSE OF BASIC RIGHT

The Cuban regime's Internet blockade drew some fire at the recent
Organization of American States' meeting in Santo Domingo. The final
declaration pointedly noted that ''without political censorship,''
the Internet helps develop democracies. Such truth, however, will
offer little comfort to Guillermo Fariñas, a Cuban dissident who
appears ready to die protesting the Internet ban.

Mr. Fariñas, 42, began his hunger strike on Jan. 31 after regime
authorities shut down his e-mail access. Today, 129 days later, he's
sustained by intravenous drips in a hospital in Villa Clara in
central Cuba. Doctors operated to remove fluids from his lungs last
week. This week his sister said that Mr. Fariñas was ``shutting down,
bit by bit.''

Why would Internet access be so important that a man would stake his
life on it? Mr. Fariñas, a psychologist turned independent
journalist, used e-mail to send uncensored dispatches on the regime's
attacks on dissidents and other human-rights abuses. Once posted on
the Internet, the reports could be read by people all over the world.
He wanted his e-mail access restored to continue spotlighting the
plight of more than 300 political prisoners in Cuba's jails.

Of course, reporting on such politically incorrect topics is illegal
in Cuba for the same reason that the regime has blocked access to the
Internet for years. Cuba's dictatorship wants to control all
information coming in and going out of the island. That's how it
protects its 47-year-old media monopoly -- its tool for manipulating
public opinion, both in Cuba and abroad, and staying in power.
Unfettered access to the Internet poses a grave threat to the regime.
Uncensored news and access to e-mail might give Cubans democratic
ideas.

We do not condone Mr. Fariñas' hunger strike, and we hope for his
recovery. Yet, despite the pleas of his family and fellow dissidents,
Mr. Fariñas insists on continuing his protest. Last month he sent a
letter asking the new U.N. Human Rights Council to condemn Cuba's
government for its abuses. He also insists on his right to Internet
access. The regime's Internet blockade is yet another sign of its
indifference to such fundamental freedoms.


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