A Hunger Strike in Cuba That Should Matter to All of Us

Irina Echarry

HAVANA TIMES — Not just because he’s a human being, but because he’s putting his life on the line in order to demand a universal human right that all of us Cubans should be fighting for: the right to publicly oppose the government without being repressed.

After Zapata died, government media stated that his hunger strike was to demand better conditions in prison, for him alone.

However, in the case of Farinas, we’re not going to have any doubts. It’s very clear, and has been proven, that his hunger strike has an altruistic objective: it’s for all of our wellbeing and for a necessary and fair cause.

I’m not sure what Farinas’ political stance is, however, if I did know what it was and it seemed atrocious to me, I would still support him, it’s our duty to do so.

This government pushes us around as it pleases and it treats us with a complete lack of respect because we lack people with the moral integrity and worth that this hunger striker is demonstrating.

If Fariñas could read this text, I’d ask him to end his strike immediately, with the commitment to join him in pursuing this struggle through other means.

Irina Echarry y Erasmo Calzadilla