Orlando Zapata Tamayo
| Orlando Zapata | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 15, 1967 Santiago de Cuba, Cuba |
| Died | February 23, 2010 (aged 42) Havana, Cuba |
| Cause of death | starvation |
| Nationality | Cuban |
| Known for | Political activism |
Orlando Zapata Tamayo (May 15, 1967 – February 23, 2010) was a Cuban mason, plumber, and political activist and prisoner who died after fasting for more than 80 days. His death received international attention, and was viewed as a significant setback in Cuba's relationship with the U.S. and the EU.
Zapata was a member of Movimiento Alternativa Republicana (Republican Alternative Movement)
Zapata was arrested on December 6, 2002 by agents of the Cuban police on charges of contempt, for which he was imprisoned for over three months. On March 20, 2003, 13 days after he was freed, he was arrested for a second time during a crackdown on dissidents and sent to the Kilo 7 prison in Camagüey. At the time of his arrest, he was participating in a hunger strike organized by the Assembly to Promote a Civil Society, taking place at the home of Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello. The hunger strike was meant as a petition for the release of several comrades.
He was charged with contempt, public disorder, and disobedience and sentenced to 36 years in prison after several judicial processes. As a result, Amnesty International recognized him as a prisoner of conscience, "imprisoned solely for having peacefully exercised [his] rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly". The socialist Monthly Review, in contrast, expressed skepticism of Amnesty's statement, alleging that Zapata was arrested and convicted several times on charges of fraud, firearm possession, and assault with a machete.
On either December 2 or 3, 2009, Zapata began a hunger strike as a protest against the Cuban government for having denied him the choice of wearing white dissident clothes instead of the designated prisoner uniform, as well as denouncing the living conditions of other prisoners. As part of his claim, Zapata was asking for conditions comparable to those that Fidel Castro had while incarcerated after his 1953 attack against the Moncada Barracks. For their part, the Cuban government stated he refused food because authorities wouldn't put a TV set, a stove and a phone in his cell.
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