SANTA CLARA -- Twenty-eight days after Guillermo Fariñas launched a hunger strike, his family reported on Monday that the Cuban dissident has a staph infection and is in the early stages of a battle against septic shock that could kill him.
In the most recent tweet posted on his Twitter account 18 hours ago, Fariñas’ family writes: “Guillermo Fariñas is in critical condition but still alive. We ask the world to pray for him. The Castro brothers do not answer.”
Mr. Fariñas launched his hunger strike the same day Cuban political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo died after an 85-day hunger strike. Fariñas said he’d not stop his strike unless Cuban president Raul Castro orders the release of 26 Cuban political prisoners who, Farinas says, are in need of urgent medical attention.
Last week Mr. Fariñas tweeted that an agent from Cuba’s state security agency urged him to stop the hunger strike, but he said he would not unless the government releases the 26 political prisoners. “We ended up talking about baseball,” he said.
Over the weekend the Spanish government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero offered Mr. Fariñas a plane to fly him to Madrid “for humanitarian reasons.” But the Cuban dissident rejected the offer.
Last Thursday President Obama urged the Cuban government to release its political prisoners describing the death of Mr. Zapata as a “deeply disturbing” event.
“I remain committed to supporting the simple desire of the Cuban people to freely determine their future and to enjoy the rights and freedoms that define the Americas," Mr. Obama said in a written statement.
On February 24, Cuban president Raul Castro said he regretted the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, but did not say if he’ll order the release of any political prisoner.
"We took him to Cuba's best hospitals, and he died. We very much regret it," Castro said during a joint appearance with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The European Union voted in early March to condemned Cuba over the death of Mr. Zapata Tamayo.
