New Jersey, 19 de junio de 2013
A los cubanos y amigos de la democracia en general,
El próximo viernes estará con nosotros el destacado periodista independiente y opositor cubano Guillermo (Coco) Fariñas, premio Sakharov 2010. Fariñas salió de Cuba en el marco de la Ley Migratoria promulgada en Cuba en enero del presente año y su propósito principal es el de dar a conocer ante el mundo la falta de libertad y democracia que hay en nuestra patria y los esfuerzos que se están haciendo para cambiar dicha situación. Antes de finalizar el acto habrá un espacio de preguntas y respuestas.
LUGAR: Local de la Unión de Expresos Políticos Cubanos, Zona Noreste
Calle 43 # 508, Union City, New Jersey
FECHA: Viernes 21 de junio de 2013
HORA: 7:30 PM
Los esperamos.
Invitan: Unión de Expresos Políticos Cubanos, Zona Noreste; Aurelio Candelaria, Presidente
Fundación para los Derechos Humanos en Cuba; Remberto Pérez, Representante en NY/NJ
Colegio Nacional de Periodistas Cubanos en el Exilio, NY/NJ; Antonio Acosta, Presidente
Nota: Para más información llamar a Israel Abreu, expreso político cubano y miembro del CNP. Teléfono (201) 868-1310.
A continuación breve resumen de la vida de Guillermo Fariñas, en inglés:
GUILLERMO FARIÑAS HERNÁNDEZ
A doctor of psychology, independent journalist and political dissident in Cuba, Guillermo Fariñas has over the years conducted over 20 hunger strikes to protest against the Cuban regime, with the aim of achieving peaceful political change, freedom of speech and freedom of expression in his country.
As a journalist, he was one of the founders of the independent press agency – Cubanacán Press – with the aim of informing the rest of the world of the destiny of political prisoners in Cuba. Eventually, he was forced by the authorities to close his press agency. Fariñas went on a hunger strike denouncing the lack of use of the internet.
Committed to non-violence and daring to denounce the Cuban regime, Fariñas has become one of the most well-known dissidents in his country. His bravery was rewarded with a Reporters Without Borders Cyber-freedom Prize in 2006.
On 8 July 2010 Fariñas ended a hunger strike after the Cuban government announced it was in the process of freeing 116 political prisoners. By then, Fariñas, who was calling for the liberation of political prisoners who had taken ill after many years of imprisonment, had been refusing food and liquids for more than 130 days. He had begun his strike in February 2010 after the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a prisoner of conscience, who died after 82 days of hunger strike.
The European Parliament has repeatedly voiced solidarity with the entire Cuban people and affirmed its support for progress towards democracy, respect and promotion of fundamental freedoms. In October 2010, Jerzy Buzek, then President of the European Parliament stated that Fariñas' protest carries the hopes for all of those who care for freedom, human rights and democracy, and called for the immediate release of all political prisoners.
Guillermo Fariñas could not participate in the 2010 Sakharov Prize award ceremony in Strasbourg because he was not allowed to leave Cuba. In July 2012, he was arrested at the funeral of another Sakharov Prize Laureate and Cuban dissident, Oswaldo Payá, because of a dubious automobile accident and later released.
