CUBA'S VALDES TAMAYO, FREED 75ER, DIES AT HOSPITAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 000033 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2017 TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU SUBJECT: CUBA'S VALDES TAMAYO, FREED 75ER, DIES AT HOSPITAL HAVANA 00000033 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Cuban pro-democracy activist Miguel Valdes Tamayo died at 50 on January 10 after battling heart problems. Valdes, an executive of the Assembly to Promote Civil Society (APSC),was among the 75 activists rounded up and sentenced to long terms in March/April of 2003. In June 2004, the Cuban Government freed him on conditional probation, apparently for health reasons. But Valdes did not cease his political activities until New Years Eve, when he was taken to the hospital after suffering sharp chest pains. We paid our respects January 11 along with two dozen dissidents and family members. The GOC placed some restrictions on the funeral. We do not expect the death to have any discernible impact on GOC policy on political prisoners. Suggested press guidance provided in Paragraph Six. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Miguel Valdes Tamayo of APSC lost a battle with heart disease late January 10 at a Havana hospital. Valdes, 50, was among the 75 peaceful activists sentenced to long terms in the "Black Spring" crackdown of 2003. In June 2004, the Cuban Government released him on conditional probation, on apparent health grounds. But Valdes, a Havana native who worked as a TV repairman, did not halt his human-rights activities until December 31, when he was taken to the hospital after suffering acute chest pains. On April 8, 2003, Valdes was tried with Oscar Biscet Gonzalez, Angel Moya Acosta and Orlando Fundora Alvarez and sentenced to 15 years for "acts against the independence or territorial integrity of the state." The trial transcripts state that Valdes was a man "disaffected by the Revolution" who "didn't participate in activities of the social organizations." The court concluded that Valdes had served the United States by releasing information that distorted Cuba's economic and socio-political situation. ¶3. (C) Valdes, who suffered from an enlarged heart, had not enjoyed good health for years. At a June 28 meeting, he was sweating profusely and could talk for no more than one or two minutes before pausing to catch his breath. However, he was well enough to attend a December 10 lunch at the COMR, where a "prisoners of conscience quilt" was on display, with one panel bearing his name. Valdes was an active official of APSC and was involved in the launch of a human-rights newsletter. He was also a frequent visitor to USINT's internet centers, and continued to use the centers even after Cuban authorities started harassing him nearly every time he left USINT. In October, police detained him outside of USINT at least five times. ¶4. (C) Valdes is the first 75er to pass away. (Fifty-nine are still in prison; the other 16 were released on health grounds.) We paid our respects at a Havana funeral home on January 11, where roughly two-dozen family members and dissidents, including freed 75er Carmelo Diaz Fernandez and at least three Ladies in White, had gathered. The GOC informed them that although a hearse and two taxis would take the body and mourners to the cemetery later in the day, dissidents would not be allowed to enter the vehicles. ¶5. (C) Valdes' death prompted a number of wives of political prisoners to think about their own husbands' mortality. Elsa Morejon Hernandez, the wife of Biscet, noted that her husband, an inmate at Combinado del Este, has heart problems of his own, as well as abscessed gums that have swollen the right side of his face. Ana Aguililla Saladrigas, the wife of Francisco Chaviano Gonzalez, among Cuba's longest-serving political prisoners, told us she had little hope that Valdes' death would help her husband's prospects for conditional probation, despite the fact that Chaviano has a lung tumor that appears malignant. COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) As the sad incident with the taxis suggests, the GOC is unlikely to regard Miguel Valdes Tamayo's death as anything more than the welcomed departure of an iconoclast and a dangerously free thinker. In the fullness of time, we hope, citizens of a free Cuba will regard Valdes as one of the relatively few Cubans brave enough to stand up to totalitarianism in Castro's Cuba. SUGGESTED PRESS GUIDANCE -------------- HAVANA 00000033 002.2 OF 002 ¶7. (U) QUESTION: WHAT ABOUT THIS CUBAN DISSIDENT WHO DIED, MIGUEL VALDES TAMAYO? WILL HIS DEATH CHANGE ANYTHING IN CUBA? ANSWER: MIGUEL VALDES TAMAYO WAS A BRAVE DEFENDER OF HUMAN RIGHTS. HE, LIKE 74 OTHERS, WAS UNJUSTLY IMPRISONED IN 2003 FOR PEACEFULLY PROMOTING RESPECT FOR THE BASIC RIGHTS THAT CUBANS ARE DENIED. ALTHOUGH VALDES WAS RELEASED ON CONDITIONAL PROBATION IN JUNE 2004 FOR HEALTH REASONS, IT IS LIKELY THAT HIS INCARCERATION WORSENED HIS HEART PROBLEMS. FIFTY-NINE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE 75 REMAIN BEHIND BARS, WHERE THEY SUFFER FROM APPALLING CONDITIONS. THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT SHOULD IMMEDIATELY RELEASE ALL 283 DOCUMENTED POLITICAL PRISONERS AND STOP PUTTING PEOPLE IN JAIL FOR PEACEFUL POLITICAL ACTIVITY. PARMLY