Cuban political prisoner Julián Antonio Monés Borrero has ended a hunger strike he started to demand his release from jail.
Monés was arrested Sept. 30 in the city of Baracoa in far eastern Cuba after he got into a scuffle with a communist thug who objected to Monés' wearing of a T-shirt proclaiming CAMBIO, or "change." Monés, who previously was imprisoned in 2007-08, immediately started a hunger strike, demanding that he be released.
Despite ending his protest after more than 40 days, Monés remains in jail, awaiting trial on an "assault" charge, for which he could be sentenced to up to 5 years in prison.
Meanwhile, another political prisoner on a lengthy hunger strike, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, is sticking with his protest. Zapata, who started his hunger strike Oct. 1, is demanding that he be transferred out a prison cell block where common criminals, at the behest of guards, have threatened him.
Zapata's parents were able to visit their son in a prison hospital on Nov. 11 and reported that he was critically ill but remained committed to his protest.
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