214:"My dear brothers in the internal opposition in Cuba. I have many things to say to you, but I did not want to do it with paper and ink, because I hope to go to you one day when our country is free without the Castro dictatorship. Long live human rights, with my blood I wrote to you so that this be saved as evidence of the savagery we are subjected to that are victims of the Pedro Luis Boitel political prisoners ."* This type of mistreatment went on for years. Orlando Zapata Tamayo was pushed into undergoing hunger strikes as a last measure to try to save his own life, and dignity as a human being.
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stated that it was "deeply saddened" by Zapata's death, while the
European Union called on Cuba to release its remaining political prisoners. Spain issued a statement remembering Zapata as a "human rights defender", while France expressed "dismay" and stated that its government had been lobbying Cuba
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took the "unprecedented step" of expressing public regret about the death of Zapata. During his remarks, he said Zapata was treated by top doctors and denied he was tortured. Cuban state television also aired a report where doctors who treated Zapata, said they tried to get him to eat, with Dr. MarĂa
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As a result, Zapata's death countered the government's monopoly on media. Unlike the death of the student leader Pedro Luis Boitel, in 1972 after a hunger strike, Zapata's death was reported with sufficient immediacy to provoke extensive backlash. Months after his sacrifice, the process of releasing
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The death of dissident
Orlando Zapata Tamayo leads to clampdown in Cuba. Cuban security forces rounded up political activists across the island to prevent protests at the funeral of a leading dissident who died after an 82-day hunger strike. Massive arrests, the cutting off of phone services, and an
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Orlando Zapata was the second son of a family of five brothers based in Banes, where he lived with his mother, a washerwoman by profession, and his stepfather. Looking for a better future, he emigrated to Havana, where he came into contact with former political prisoner Enri
Saumell Peña, with whom
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On March 16, 2010, an open letter condemning the Cuban government for the unjust incarceration of
Orlando Zapata Tamayo and asking for the release of other political prisoners was posted in an internet blog. In less than a week the letter had obtained over 30,000 signatures. Among the signatories
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as a protest against the Cuban government for having denied him the choice of wearing white dissident clothes instead of the designated prisoner uniform, as well as denouncing the living conditions of other prisoners. As part of his claim, Zapata was asking for conditions comparable to those that
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Orlando Zapata Tamayo was moved around several prisons, including QuivicĂĄn Prison, Guanajay Prison, and
Combinado del Este Prison in Havana. Amnesty International reported that on October 20, 2003 Orlando "was dragged along the floor of the Combinado del Este Prison by prison officials after he
308:, MEPs condemned the cruel death of the imprisoned political dissident and voted on a joint resolution calling for more respect for the human rights of the prisoner in Cuba. A large majority of MEPs backed the resolution which was tabled by all the political groups in the parliament.
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intense campaign against Zapata's reputation took place in the official media. With regards to Zapata, Cuban
Television News said that he had a âlong criminal historyâ and even transmitted a hidden camera recording of his mother inside the hospital.
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Zapata persisted in the hunger strike and was admitted to the CamagĂŒey
Hospital at an unspecified date, where he was given fluids intravenously against his will. On February 16, 2010, his condition worsened and he was transferred to
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on Zapata's behalf. The incident was seen as a significant setback for the thawing of
Spanish-Cuban and U.S.-Cuban relations, with one analyst describing it as "the nail in the coffin of Spain's efforts to improve EU-Cuba ties".
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Regardless, there was domestic opposition, and several international organizations as well as media condemned what had happened. Orlando Zapata Tamayo became a rallying point for the Cuban democratic opposition.
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to commemorate the second anniversary of Zapata's death. They were protested by a group of government supporters in coordination with security agents, who chanted "Down with the worms!" and "Long Live RaĂșl!"
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requested medical attention, leaving his back full of lacerations." Orlando managed to smuggle a letter out following a brutal beating that was published by
Cubanet in April 2004:
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for more than 80 days. His death received international attention, and was viewed as a significant setback in Cuba's relationship with the U.S. the EU and the rest of the world.
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During the hunger strike Zapata refused to eat any food other than his mother's, who visited him every three months. According to the U.S.-based opposition group
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We explained to him the consequences of his decision at every turn and how much he was endangering his life with this. But he kept it up.
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It was the first time that an opponent of the Cuban government died during a hunger strike since the 1972 death of
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Cuban state newspapers, meanwhile, described Zapata as a "common criminal falsely elevated to martyr status."
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374:"Cuban dissident Orlando Tamayo Zapata hunger strikes for the rights of Cuban prisoners, 2009-2010"
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he began in political activism. He was a member of the
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are prominent intellectuals from both the left and right of the political spectrum.
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and sentenced to 36 years in prison after several judicial processes. As a result,
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organized by the Assembly to Promote a Civil Society, taking place at the home of
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Muere el disidente Orlando Zapata Tamayo tras 86 dĂas de huelga de hambre
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Fidel Castro had while incarcerated after his 1953 attack against the
651:"Death of dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo leads to clampdown in Cuba"
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Cuba, the Corporate Media, and the Suicide of Orlando Zapata Tamayo
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447:"Noticias/Cuba_COMUNICADO del Movimiento Alternativo Republicano"
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Zapata was arrested on December 6, 2002, by agents of the Cuban
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693:"RaĂșl Castro Says He Regrets Dissident's Hunger Strike Death"
679:"Cuba, the European Parliament and the Death of a Dissident"
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political activist and a political prisoner who died after
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Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Cuba
174:. At the time of his arrest, he was participating in a
770:"Deutsche Schatten in Archangelsker Gulag (1920â2010)"
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Hospitalizado un disidente cubano en huelga de hambre
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582:Cuba TV Report Denies Gov't let Hunger Striker Die
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716:"Prisoner death a setback in Cuba-U.S. relations"
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222:On either December 2 or 3, 2009, Zapata began a
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543:Zapata Tamayo translado: muy cerca de la muerte
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128:(May 15, 1967 – February 23, 2010) was a
42: and the second or maternal family name is
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695:. Fox News. Associated Press. 24 February 2012
563:, by Ann Louisse Bardach and Luis Conte Aguero
491:"SĂntesis BiogrĂĄfico de Orlando Zapata Tamayo"
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619:"Cuban dissident dies during hunger strike"
323:met at the former home of deceased leader
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529:. Amnesty International. 29 January 2004.
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286:the prisoners of the Black Spring began.
524:"Newly declared prisoners of conscience"
847:Cuban people who died in prison custody
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745:Anne-Marie Garcia (23 February 2012).
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867:Prisoners who died in Cuban detention
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665:"The Death That Changed Our Lives"
561:The Prison Letters of Fidel Castro
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170:and sent to the Kilo 7 prison in
862:People who died on hunger strike
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714:Estaban Israel (16 April 2012).
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395:. netforcuba.org. Archived from
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185:He was charged with contempt,
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493:(in Spanish). payolibre.com.
248:Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital
236:Cuban Democratic Directorate
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34:, the first or paternal
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638:YO ACUSO AL GOBIERNO CUBANO
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180:Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello
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319:On 23 February 2012, the
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345:Cuban dissident movement
832:Counter-revolutionaries
393:"Orlando Zapata Tamayo"
218:Hunger strike and death
168:crackdown on dissidents
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199:prisoner of conscience
872:Cuban torture victims
837:Cuban hunger strikers
804:at Wikimedia Commons
350:Wilmar Villar Mendoza
313:U.S. State Department
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195:Amnesty International
126:Orlando Zapata Tamayo
18:Orlando Zapata Tamayo
608:, February 17, 2010.
421:"BBS News: Americas"
197:recognized him as a
681:. 25 November 2021.
667:. 23 February 2020.
427:. February 24, 2010
355:Cuban Hunger Strike
306:European Parliament
103:Cause of death
749:. Associated Press
649:York, James Bone.
584:By Will Weissert,
548:2012-04-22 at the
506:by Salim Lamrani,
331:Russian Historian
273:Reactions to death
800:Media related to
263:Pedro Luis Boitel
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87:February 23, 2010
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772:. Archived from
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69:May 15, 1967
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32:Spanish name
822:2010 deaths
817:1967 births
333:Yuri Doykov
290:RaĂșl Castro
811:Categories
780:2016-02-26
456:2020-11-10
403:2009-05-08
361:References
145:Early life
116:Political
107:starvation
65:1967-05-15
140:Biography
753:16 April
730:16 April
699:16 April
546:Archived
475:El Mundo
425:BBC News
339:See also
172:CamagĂŒey
164:contempt
118:activism
30:In this
720:Reuters
605:El PaĂs
431:May 20,
36:surname
252:Havana
189:, and
160:police
97:, Cuba
95:Havana
44:Tamayo
40:Zapata
527:(PDF)
130:Cuban
755:2012
732:2012
701:2012
511:Zine
433:2010
311:The
84:Died
77:Cuba
59:Born
256:EST
250:in
38:is
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