Alejandrina García de la Riva began a hunger strike on June 4, 2010 outside of Agüica prison after prison officials refused to let her see her husband Diosdado González Marrero, an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience. She is now demanding his release as a condition to end the hunger strike.
Diosdado was one of the six transferred to a prison closer to his home province, but there was an ominous catch reminiscent of what was done to Orlando Zapata Tamayo when he had been transferred in December of 2009. Like Orlando,when he arrived at Agüica, a maximum security prison, Diosdado was thrown into a punishment cell because of his refusal to put on a prison uniform. In response, González he started a hunger strike. Yesterday, Alejandrina announced that she did not know her husband's whereabouts and today she has planted herself outside of the prison and has launched into a hunger strike.
She spoke with Cardinal Jaime Ortega by phone and asked him to pray for her because she is staying on the hunger strike until her husband is freed. At the same time according to The Miami Herald the dictatorship detained 37 Cuban activists signaling a new wave of repression. Reports today in El Nuevo Herald indicate that many, if not all, of the 37 had been released. Nevertheless, the prisoners of conscience continue in prison - some now closer to home but they should have never been imprisoned in the first place.
Update: News reports that both Alejandrina García de la Riva and Diosdado González Marrero have ended their hunger strike with fundamental demands met. She was able to see her husband and he is no longer required to put on a prison uniform.
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