English transcript of Yoani Sanchez video interview of Reina Tamayo, mother
of Orlando Zapata Tamayo
Yoani Sanchez | We are here to express our condolences. We would like to
know at what time did he pass away, what do you know about his last
minutes, what are your feelings right now, and what is going to happen after
he is released by the coroner?
Reina Luisa Tamayo Dangier | I am Reina Luisa Tamayo Dangier, the mother
of prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo who was interned in the
hospital of the Habana del Este Prison. Last night he was moved to the
Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital where he passed away at 3:00 PM.
I can tell you I feel a horrible pain, but I am holding on, enduring through this
pain. I was able to be at his side until he passed away and now hope to have
the courage to dress my son Orlando Zapata Tamayo.
We will leave for Banes, Holguin Province, Embarcadero road, house number
six, where we will hold the wake before our family altar, at my home, for as
long as required.
I want to tell the world about my pain. I think my son's death was a
premeditated murder. My son was tortured throughout his incarceration. His
plight has brought me great pain and has been excruciating for the entire
family. Even, as he was transferred to this prison, he was first held in
Camaguey without drinking water for 18 days. My son dies after an 86-day
hunger strike. He is another Pedro Boitel for Cuba. [Pedro Luis Boitel died in
1972 during a hunger strike while serving a 10-year prison sentence
in Cuba]
In the midst of deep pain, I call on the world to demand the
freedom of the other prisoners and brothers unfairly sentenced so
that what happened to my boy, my second child, who leaves
of Orlando Zapata Tamayo
Yoani Sanchez | We are here to express our condolences. We would like to
know at what time did he pass away, what do you know about his last
minutes, what are your feelings right now, and what is going to happen after
he is released by the coroner?
Reina Luisa Tamayo Dangier | I am Reina Luisa Tamayo Dangier, the mother
of prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo who was interned in the
hospital of the Habana del Este Prison. Last night he was moved to the
Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital where he passed away at 3:00 PM.
I can tell you I feel a horrible pain, but I am holding on, enduring through this
pain. I was able to be at his side until he passed away and now hope to have
the courage to dress my son Orlando Zapata Tamayo.
We will leave for Banes, Holguin Province, Embarcadero road, house number
six, where we will hold the wake before our family altar, at my home, for as
long as required.
I want to tell the world about my pain. I think my son's death was a
premeditated murder. My son was tortured throughout his incarceration. His
plight has brought me great pain and has been excruciating for the entire
family. Even, as he was transferred to this prison, he was first held in
Camaguey without drinking water for 18 days. My son dies after an 86-day
hunger strike. He is another Pedro Boitel for Cuba. [Pedro Luis Boitel died in
1972 during a hunger strike while serving a 10-year prison sentence
in Cuba]
In the midst of deep pain, I call on the world to demand the
freedom of the other prisoners and brothers unfairly sentenced so
that what happened to my boy, my second child, who leaves
behind no physical legacy, no child or wife, does not happen again.
Testimonio de la madre de Orlando Zapata Tamayo
La Habana, Cuba - February 24, 2010… Esta tarde, horas después de la
muerte de Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Reinaldo y yo pudimos acercarnos a las
cercanías del departamento de Medicina Legal en la calle Boyeros.
Un cordón de hombres de la seguridad de la estado vigilaba el lugar, pero
logramos acercarnos a Reina, la madre del fallecido, y hacerle estas
preguntas.
Dolor, indignación en nosotros… tristeza y entereza en ella.
Aquí les dejo la grabación, alternativa y sin apenas luz, pero testimonio
desgarrador de la angustia de una madre.
Orlando Zapata Tamayo
Cuba in crackdown after dissident's death
HAVANA - Security agents detained dissidents across Cuba Wednesday to
prevent protests at the funeral of a leading political prisoner, an activist
said, after the death of the hunger-striking detainee sparked international
outrage.
Cuban President Raul Castro "regrets the death of Cuban prisoner Orlando
Zapata Tamayo, who died yesterday after having been on a hunger strike," a
foreign ministry statement said.
But Castro denied allegations of repression in the Americas' only one-party
communist regime after the late dissident's mother charged her son was
tortured.
"There are no tortured people, there were no tortured people, there was no
execution," Raul Castro, 78, told reporters. "That is what happens at (the U.S.
naval base in) Guantanamo."
Testimonio de la madre de Orlando Zapata Tamayo
La Habana, Cuba - February 24, 2010… Esta tarde, horas después de la
muerte de Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Reinaldo y yo pudimos acercarnos a las
cercanías del departamento de Medicina Legal en la calle Boyeros.
Un cordón de hombres de la seguridad de la estado vigilaba el lugar, pero
logramos acercarnos a Reina, la madre del fallecido, y hacerle estas
preguntas.
Dolor, indignación en nosotros… tristeza y entereza en ella.
Aquí les dejo la grabación, alternativa y sin apenas luz, pero testimonio
desgarrador de la angustia de una madre.
Orlando Zapata Tamayo
Cuba in crackdown after dissident's death
HAVANA - Security agents detained dissidents across Cuba Wednesday to
prevent protests at the funeral of a leading political prisoner, an activist
said, after the death of the hunger-striking detainee sparked international
outrage.
Cuban President Raul Castro "regrets the death of Cuban prisoner Orlando
Zapata Tamayo, who died yesterday after having been on a hunger strike," a
foreign ministry statement said.
But Castro denied allegations of repression in the Americas' only one-party
communist regime after the late dissident's mother charged her son was
tortured.
"There are no tortured people, there were no tortured people, there was no
execution," Raul Castro, 78, told reporters. "That is what happens at (the U.S.
naval base in) Guantanamo."
www.ambiente.us MARCH | MARZO 2010
Jailed Cuban activist Orlando Zapata Tamayo dies on
hunger strike
A dissident who stopped eating in December has died, the first time
since 1972 that an opponent of the Havana government lost his life
during a hunger protest.
Orlando Zapata Tamayo's Mother Speaks After Her Son's
Death
By Yoani Sanchez
La Habana, Cuba - February 24, 2010… This afternoon, hours after the death of
Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Reinaldo and I were able to approach the Department
of Legal Medicine, where autopsies are performed, in Boyeros Street.
A cordon of men from State Security were watching the place, but we
managed to approach Reina, the mother of the deceased, and ask her the
questions in the recording posted here.
Pain, indignation in our case... sadness and
fortitude in hers. Here is the recording,
amateur and in very low light, but the
heartbreaking testimony of an anguished
mother.
Jailed Cuban activist Orlando Zapata Tamayo dies on
hunger strike
A dissident who stopped eating in December has died, the first time
since 1972 that an opponent of the Havana government lost his life
during a hunger protest.
Orlando Zapata Tamayo's Mother Speaks After Her Son's
Death
By Yoani Sanchez
La Habana, Cuba - February 24, 2010… This afternoon, hours after the death of
Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Reinaldo and I were able to approach the Department
of Legal Medicine, where autopsies are performed, in Boyeros Street.
A cordon of men from State Security were watching the place, but we
managed to approach Reina, the mother of the deceased, and ask her the
questions in the recording posted here.
Pain, indignation in our case... sadness and
fortitude in hers. Here is the recording,
amateur and in very low light, but the
heartbreaking testimony of an anguished
mother.
| . |
| . |
| . |
| . AMBIENTE ONLINE STORE |
LGBT/Latino/Hispanic Civil Rights unitycoalition.org |
Fresh-Squeezed Paradise MIAMI RIVER INN miamiriverinn.com |
CLICK to Shop |
Miami Beach GAY PRIDE April 17, 2010 |
| . 70's Inspired Purses GLOSSgear.com |
FLOWERS|ART ESSENTIALS flowerbardesign.com |
The government's initial reaction however appeared to be to move swiftly
against other dissidents.
Elizardo Sanchez, spokesman for the outlawed Commission for Human Rights
and National Reconciliation, told AFP that security agents had detained
about 30 activists Tuesday and Wednesday.
"Some also have been held in their houses, without a judicial warrant, to
prevent people from going to the wake," he said.
Dissidents have been rounded up in the eastern provinces of Santiago de
Cuba, Guantanamo, Las Tunas and Camaguey, and in the central city of
Placetas, Sanchez said.
Zapata, 42, was to be buried in his hometown of Banes, 830 kilometers (500
miles) east of Havana, after a wake at the home of his mother.
"My son was tortured the whole time he was in prison," Reina Luisa Tamayo
charged in a video on the blog Generacion Y, run by independent journalist
Yoani Sanchez in defiance of Havana's tightly controlled state media.
Tamayo implored "the international community to demand the release of
the rest of (Cuba's political) prisoners . . . so that what happened to my boy
does not happen again."
Zapata's death drew international condemnation and calls for an
investigation.
Jailed since 2003 and deemed a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty
International, Zapata had blamed his already deteriorating health on harsh
conditions inside Cuba's jails.
Sanchez said it was the first time in nearly 40 years that a Cuban opposition
figure has died while on a hunger strike. Zapata's death is "bad news for the
human rights movement and for the government as well," he said.
against other dissidents.
Elizardo Sanchez, spokesman for the outlawed Commission for Human Rights
and National Reconciliation, told AFP that security agents had detained
about 30 activists Tuesday and Wednesday.
"Some also have been held in their houses, without a judicial warrant, to
prevent people from going to the wake," he said.
Dissidents have been rounded up in the eastern provinces of Santiago de
Cuba, Guantanamo, Las Tunas and Camaguey, and in the central city of
Placetas, Sanchez said.
Zapata, 42, was to be buried in his hometown of Banes, 830 kilometers (500
miles) east of Havana, after a wake at the home of his mother.
"My son was tortured the whole time he was in prison," Reina Luisa Tamayo
charged in a video on the blog Generacion Y, run by independent journalist
Yoani Sanchez in defiance of Havana's tightly controlled state media.
Tamayo implored "the international community to demand the release of
the rest of (Cuba's political) prisoners . . . so that what happened to my boy
does not happen again."
Zapata's death drew international condemnation and calls for an
investigation.
Jailed since 2003 and deemed a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty
International, Zapata had blamed his already deteriorating health on harsh
conditions inside Cuba's jails.
Sanchez said it was the first time in nearly 40 years that a Cuban opposition
figure has died while on a hunger strike. Zapata's death is "bad news for the
human rights movement and for the government as well," he said.
| . |
The movement "is not seeking martyrs," said Oswaldo Paya, leader of the
Christian Liberation Movement dissident group. Zapata died "defending the
freedom, rights and dignity of all Cubans," Paya added.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said
Zapata's death "highlights the injustice of Cuba's holding more than 200
political prisoners who should now be released without delay."
The EU Commission also voiced deep regret at Zapata's death.
The European Union urges the Cuban government "to improve effectively
the human rights situation in the country by releasing unconditionally all
political prisoners," EU commission spokesman John Clancy told AFP.
Cuba claims it has no political prisoners; it says regime opponents are all
"mercenaries" in the pay of the United States or right-wing Cuban exiles.
Zapata was one of 55 "prisoners of conscience" adopted by Amnesty
International in Cuba, most of whom were also arrested in the 2003
government crackdown on activists seeking political change.
Initially given a three-year prison term, Zapata saw his sentence grow to 36
years as the government piled on additional charges of "disobedience" and
"disorder in a penal establishment."
Amnesty International said Zapata "felt he had no other avenue available
to him but to starve himself in protest is a terrible indictment of the
continuing repression of political dissidents in Cuba."
Hector Palacios, one of 75 political prisoners convicted in 2003 and who
met Zapata in prison, told AFP "people are outraged," and that a national
mourning and fasting period was being weighed.
"I'm crushed," said Palacios, who has been released for health reasons.
Christian Liberation Movement dissident group. Zapata died "defending the
freedom, rights and dignity of all Cubans," Paya added.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said
Zapata's death "highlights the injustice of Cuba's holding more than 200
political prisoners who should now be released without delay."
The EU Commission also voiced deep regret at Zapata's death.
The European Union urges the Cuban government "to improve effectively
the human rights situation in the country by releasing unconditionally all
political prisoners," EU commission spokesman John Clancy told AFP.
Cuba claims it has no political prisoners; it says regime opponents are all
"mercenaries" in the pay of the United States or right-wing Cuban exiles.
Zapata was one of 55 "prisoners of conscience" adopted by Amnesty
International in Cuba, most of whom were also arrested in the 2003
government crackdown on activists seeking political change.
Initially given a three-year prison term, Zapata saw his sentence grow to 36
years as the government piled on additional charges of "disobedience" and
"disorder in a penal establishment."
Amnesty International said Zapata "felt he had no other avenue available
to him but to starve himself in protest is a terrible indictment of the
continuing repression of political dissidents in Cuba."
Hector Palacios, one of 75 political prisoners convicted in 2003 and who
met Zapata in prison, told AFP "people are outraged," and that a national
mourning and fasting period was being weighed.
"I'm crushed," said Palacios, who has been released for health reasons.
| . |
Zapata "had no alternative but to opt for the hunger strike. The authorities
took no pity on him, they just let him die."
Copyright © AFP & AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing this source
took no pity on him, they just let him die."
Copyright © AFP & AMBIENTE MAGAZINE. Do not reproduce without citing this source
| . |