Whatever the exact circumstances of Oswaldo Paya's death, whether he was the victim of a traffic crash or something more sinister, his passing on Sunday represents a challenge for the opposition in Cuba and for those of us overseas who consider ourselves supporters of the cause of Cuban freedom.
The challenge is this: In Cuba, who will pick up Paya's banner and risk what little freedom they enjoy to stand up to the Castro dictatorship and demand that it recognize and respect Cubans' basic human rights?
And in exile, what will we do to honor Paya and his legacy? What will we do to tell a story that is too often not told. After all, this weekend, before Paya was killed, the regime had already arrested numerous members of the Damas De Blanco -- a story missed by the Associated Press, which instead chose to publish a story about the world's largest daiquiri.
Whatever the circumstances, we must not let the death of Oswaldo Paya, like the deaths of Orlando Zapata and Laura Pollan before him, be in vain.
And if Paya -- as we have good reason to suspect -- was murdered by the regime, we must start by denouncing this outrage and demanding justice.
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These videos reveal why Paya's death is such a tremendous loss.
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