Jailed Cuba dissident dies in hunger strike

HAVANA, (Reuters) – A 31-year-old jailed dissident,  Wilmar Villar Mendoza, died yesterday in eastern Cuba from the  effects of a 56-day hunger strike and what fellow opposition  activists believe was mistreatment by the Cuban government, a  Cuban human rights activist said.
Villar launched his hunger strike shortly after he was  arrested in November, put on trial and sentenced to four years  in prison for crimes including disobedience, resistance and  crimes against the state, said Elizardo Sanchez of the Cuban  Commission of Human Rights.
He said Villar joined an opposition group in the eastern  province of Santiago de Cuba called the Cuban Patriotic Union  last summer and had been an active dissident since then.
He was placed in solitary confinement under difficult  conditions which, combined with his hunger strike, caused  serious health problems that led to his death, Sanchez told  Reuters.
He was been taken to a hospital in the city of Santiago de  Cuba on Jan. 14 as his condition deteriorated, and died there.
“We hold the Cuban government categorically responsible  because he died under their care. We consider this another  avoidable death,” he said.
Cuba drew international condemnation when another imprisoned  dissident, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, died in February 2010 after an  85-day hunger strike.
President Raul Castro said Zapata was just a common  criminal, but his death is believed to have contributed to  Castro’s decision in the summer of 2010 to release 130 political  prisoners in a deal brokered by the Roman Catholic Church.
Zapata was classified a “prisoner of conscience” by Amnesty  International, but Villar’s case has drawn little attention.
The Cuban government has not yet said anything about  Villar’s death, but pro-government blogger Yohandry announced it  in his blog, saying “the delinquent Wilmar Villar Mendoza died.”
He predicted the death would bring criticism of Cuba from  opponents of the Cuban government in the United States.
“The scavengers are beginning to arrive. Another campaign  against Cuba starts to take off,” he wrote.
Dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez tweeted the news of Villar’s  death and asked “How many more have to die? How many more?”    (