"Cuban leader regrets prisoner’s death; Castro makes rare comment on dissident activity" by Paul Haven, Associated Press | February 25, 2010
HAVANA - President Raul Castro of Cuba issued an unprecedented statement of regret yesterday over the death of a jailed dissident after a lengthy hunger strike that has sparked condemnation in Washington and in European capitals.
Related: The Truth about Guantánamo
Who is criticizing again?
The Cuban leader blamed the United States for the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo but did not explain how Washington was responsible.
“Raul Castro laments the death of Cuban prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who died after conducting a hunger strike,’’ the Foreign Ministry said yesterday, adding that any reports that the man was tortured or mistreated in jail were false. Zapata Tamayo launched the hunger strike to protest what he said were poor prison conditions on the island. Zapata Tamayo’s mother has called her son’s death a “premeditated assassination.’’
“There are no torture victims, there have not been any torture victims nor have there been any executions,’’ the ministry quoted Castro as saying during meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that was closed to media on the island.
Gee, the Brazilian guy sure gets around with no feature article, 'eh?
“That sort of thing happens at the base at Guantanamo,’’ he added, referring to the US military base in eastern Cuba used to jail terror suspect.
Yes, there is NO GETTING AROUND THAT. AmeriKa!
Cuban officials almost never comment on dissident activity, which they view as illegitimate and a creation of Washington.
Yeah, going on 50 years now.
Castro weighing in personally was a first.
Zapata Tamayo, little known before his death, had been jailed since 2003 on charges including disrespecting authority. He died Tuesday at a hospital in the capital, becoming the first imprisoned opposition figure to die after a hunger strike in nearly four decades.
My guess is he was not assassinated -- at least, not the way the U.S. does it.
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the US government was “deeply saddened’’ to hear of the death. He said that US diplomats who were in Havana last week for migration talks had raised the case with their Cuban counterparts.
Then he is one of our agents; otherwise, they wouldn't be asking about him and he wouldn't make the paper.
“Mr. Orlando Zapata Tamayo’s death highlights the injustice of Cuba’s holding more than 200 political prisoners who should now be released without delay,’’ Crowley said.
We are a fine nation to talk considering all the bogus, false-flag set-ups and show trials of patsy "terrorists!"
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