The CIHPRESS news agency this morning published a statement from Cuban political prisoner Jorge Cervantes, who has been on hunger strike since May 29 after he was arrested and ordered to serve the remaining 4 years from a previous prison sentence.
Cervantes who is hospitalized in Santiago de Cuba because of the effects of his protest, said a State Security official told him that a Cuban court in January revoked his parole because of protests he participated in, in December 2010 on behalf of his brother Agustin, who was then imprisoned.
The official, who Jorge Cervantes agreed not to name, told Cervantes that he was not immediately arrested because authorities hoped he would take exile along with his brother once Agustin Cervantes was released under an arrangement between the Castro regime, the Spanish government and the Catholic Church.
Agustin Cervantes was released in March, and he and several family members took exile in Spain. However, Jorge remained in Cuba.
Soon after, the authorities arrested Jorge.
His hunger has left Jorge Cervantes critically ill, suffering not only the effects of not eating but also aggravating the tuberculosis he acquired during the 14 years he had previously served in the Castro gulag. Before he was removed from a punishment cell and transferred to a hospital, Cervantes was reportedly coughing up blood.
The Jorge Cervantes crisis illustrates many facets of current conditions on the island. Namely, the cruelty of the Castro regime, and the pitfalls of the much ballyhooed deal between the church, the dictatorship and Spain.
The surest evidence of the latter is how the deal has done nothing to stem the tide of repression in Cuba, and that it might not be enough to save the life of Jorge Cervantes Garcia.
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