Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06HAVANA16901
2006-08-24 17:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
US Interests Section Havana
Cable title:
FARINAS HUNGER STRIKE HITS DAY 205
how-toVZCZCXRO0194 RR RUEHAG DE RUEHUB #6901/01 2361707 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 241707Z AUG 06 FM USINT HAVANA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4183 INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 016901
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2016
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: FARINAS HUNGER STRIKE HITS DAY 205
HAVANA 00016901 001.2 OF 002
Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 016901
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2016
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: FARINAS HUNGER STRIKE HITS DAY 205
HAVANA 00016901 001.2 OF 002
Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d).
1. (C) Summary. The hunger strike of Cuban dissident
Guillermo Farinas reached 205 days on August 24, after the
independent journalist allowed the flow of IV fluids to be
restored following his transfer to a hospital room where he
could receive visitors. Farinas' girlfriend, dissident
Noelia Pedraza, told us Farinas has no intention of ending
his campaign for Internet access for all Cubans. Pedraza
said State Security is threatening to strip her of legal
custody of her five-year-old son. State Security also
continued to hound Elsa Morejon, wife of political prisoner
Oscar Biscet. Dr. Biscet, at Combinado del Este prison, said
hundreds of inmates have been transferred to other
institutions. There is speculation, but no hard evidence,
that the GOC plans a major roundup in advance of the
September summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). End
Summary.
2. (C) Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas stretched his hunger
strike to 205 days on August 24 and allowed medical
professionals to reconnect the catheter that is keeping him
alive after going 24 hours without nourishment. Farinas had
refused to accept IV fluids but changed his mind after
authorities allowed him to transfer to a different part of
his Santa Clara hospital, where he can speak to visitors
through a glass wall. We met August 23 with Farinas'
girlfriend, Noelia Pedraza, who said the GOC has relaxed its
visitation rules and that 13 people had visited Farinas the
previous day, including Pedraza's mother and a number of
pro-democracy activists. Farinas, director of the outlawed
Cubanacan Press agency, is said to be in stable condition but
suffering from recurring headaches.
CUSTODY OF SON IN DANGER
--------------
3. (C) Pedraza, of the Martha Abreu Women's Movement, told us
she is experiencing heightened harassment from State
Security. She said the GOC is threatening to strip her of
custody of her five-year-old son, Danny, with whom she and
her mother live. On April 27, she said, a State Security
captain approached Pedraza's ex-husband and encouraged him to
seek legal custody of Danny, hinting that courts would
support the move. However, the ex-husband refused, Pedraza
said, stating that the boy deserves to live with his mother.
On August 15, Pedraza said, the director of the school that
Danny plans to attend visited Pedraza's home and told her
mother that Danny should be brought to school each day by his
father, not his mother.
BOGUS ACTIVISTS
--------------
4. (C) Another dissident who is suffering State Security
harassment is Elsa Morejon, wife of political prisoner Oscar
Biscet of the Lawton Human Rights Foundation. Morejon told
us August 23 that so far this year, State Security has sent
"at least 20" agents to her house posing as human rights
activists. She said they're usually easy to identify based
on their remarks. "They are the ones seeking money, or
creating problems between my side of the family and Oscar's."
GOVT CREATING SPACE IN HAVANA PRISONS
--------------
5. (C) Morejon, who last spoke with Biscet on August 21,
quoted him as saying that at his prison - Combinado del Este
(CDE),in Havana - "hundreds" of (non-political) prisoners
have been transferred in recent weeks to other prisons or
work camps, many in Pinar del Rio, on the western tip of
Cuba. Biscet also said the GOC is increasingly using CDE
inmates on construction projects. Ana Aguililla, wife of
political prisoner Francisco Chaviano, told us August 24 that
Chaviano recently told her that dozens of new bunk beds have
been moved into at least one of CDE's two waiting rooms.
COMMENT
--------------
6. (C) It is unclear why the authorities have been creating
space at CDE and other Havana prisons. Some in the dissident
community think the Cuban Government will launch a broad
roundup of activists in advance of next month's NAM summit,
to stifle any potential show of dissent. Others think the
GOC will "clean" the streets of underemployed youth who are
blamed for snatch-and-grab attacks. Our sense is that Raul
Castro is keenly interested in control, and will take
HAVANA 00016901 002.2 OF 002
whatever measures are necessary to secure the capital for the
NAM summit.
PARMLY
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2016
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: FARINAS HUNGER STRIKE HITS DAY 205
HAVANA 00016901 001.2 OF 002
Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d).
1. (C) Summary. The hunger strike of Cuban dissident
Guillermo Farinas reached 205 days on August 24, after the
independent journalist allowed the flow of IV fluids to be
restored following his transfer to a hospital room where he
could receive visitors. Farinas' girlfriend, dissident
Noelia Pedraza, told us Farinas has no intention of ending
his campaign for Internet access for all Cubans. Pedraza
said State Security is threatening to strip her of legal
custody of her five-year-old son. State Security also
continued to hound Elsa Morejon, wife of political prisoner
Oscar Biscet. Dr. Biscet, at Combinado del Este prison, said
hundreds of inmates have been transferred to other
institutions. There is speculation, but no hard evidence,
that the GOC plans a major roundup in advance of the
September summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). End
Summary.
2. (C) Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas stretched his hunger
strike to 205 days on August 24 and allowed medical
professionals to reconnect the catheter that is keeping him
alive after going 24 hours without nourishment. Farinas had
refused to accept IV fluids but changed his mind after
authorities allowed him to transfer to a different part of
his Santa Clara hospital, where he can speak to visitors
through a glass wall. We met August 23 with Farinas'
girlfriend, Noelia Pedraza, who said the GOC has relaxed its
visitation rules and that 13 people had visited Farinas the
previous day, including Pedraza's mother and a number of
pro-democracy activists. Farinas, director of the outlawed
Cubanacan Press agency, is said to be in stable condition but
suffering from recurring headaches.
CUSTODY OF SON IN DANGER
--------------
3. (C) Pedraza, of the Martha Abreu Women's Movement, told us
she is experiencing heightened harassment from State
Security. She said the GOC is threatening to strip her of
custody of her five-year-old son, Danny, with whom she and
her mother live. On April 27, she said, a State Security
captain approached Pedraza's ex-husband and encouraged him to
seek legal custody of Danny, hinting that courts would
support the move. However, the ex-husband refused, Pedraza
said, stating that the boy deserves to live with his mother.
On August 15, Pedraza said, the director of the school that
Danny plans to attend visited Pedraza's home and told her
mother that Danny should be brought to school each day by his
father, not his mother.
BOGUS ACTIVISTS
--------------
4. (C) Another dissident who is suffering State Security
harassment is Elsa Morejon, wife of political prisoner Oscar
Biscet of the Lawton Human Rights Foundation. Morejon told
us August 23 that so far this year, State Security has sent
"at least 20" agents to her house posing as human rights
activists. She said they're usually easy to identify based
on their remarks. "They are the ones seeking money, or
creating problems between my side of the family and Oscar's."
GOVT CREATING SPACE IN HAVANA PRISONS
--------------
5. (C) Morejon, who last spoke with Biscet on August 21,
quoted him as saying that at his prison - Combinado del Este
(CDE),in Havana - "hundreds" of (non-political) prisoners
have been transferred in recent weeks to other prisons or
work camps, many in Pinar del Rio, on the western tip of
Cuba. Biscet also said the GOC is increasingly using CDE
inmates on construction projects. Ana Aguililla, wife of
political prisoner Francisco Chaviano, told us August 24 that
Chaviano recently told her that dozens of new bunk beds have
been moved into at least one of CDE's two waiting rooms.
COMMENT
--------------
6. (C) It is unclear why the authorities have been creating
space at CDE and other Havana prisons. Some in the dissident
community think the Cuban Government will launch a broad
roundup of activists in advance of next month's NAM summit,
to stifle any potential show of dissent. Others think the
GOC will "clean" the streets of underemployed youth who are
blamed for snatch-and-grab attacks. Our sense is that Raul
Castro is keenly interested in control, and will take
HAVANA 00016901 002.2 OF 002
whatever measures are necessary to secure the capital for the
NAM summit.
PARMLY