Suicide is never painless, so it always hurts to read that a Cuban political prisoner has willingly put his life on the line to protest the crimes of the Castro dictatorship. He was a man of courage and a man deserving of admiration, but Cuba does not need any more Pedro Luis Boitels. It needs its prisoners of conscience to survive so when its 50-plus-year nightmare is over, they can lead a new Cuba with their example.
So today, please, pray for José Daniel Ferrer García. Last week, Ferrer started a hunger strike to protest a beating that guards at the Combindaro de Guantánamo prison gave another political prisoner, José Ángel Simón Rodríguez. The assault sparked a protest by other prisoners that was quickly put down by a good squad.
The authorities also transferrer Ferrer, Simón and three other political prisoners to five different prisons across the island. On Friday, Ana Belkis Ferrer García visited her brother José Daniel at the Típico provincial prison in Las Tunas. She told human rights activist Juan Carlos González Leiva about her brother's hunger strike, and that guards have limited his access to the telephone and food and other personal items, according to a report posted at Payo Libre.
Ana added that her brother is being held in a dirty cell and that he has not been able to bathe himself.
For another example of José Daniel Ferrer García's courage, listen to this tape.
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