Cuban journalist in second week of hunger strike
Committee to Protect Journalists
Cuban dissidents–both on and off the island–have been blasting the news of Víctor Rolando Arroyo's 12-day hunger strike. In a matter of hours, CPJ received three concerned e-mails from Havana and Miami. In the meantime, foreign-based Cuban news Web sites plastered the story across the Internet.
Arroyo is one of 22 independent journalists imprisoned in Cuba today. He is being held in the Kilo 5 1/2 Prison in the western province of Pinar del Río, where he is housed in a hall along with 130 other prisoners, according to Cuban news Web sites. Like all the other journalists jailed in Cuba, Arroyo suffers from an array of ailments that have developed in prison. According to CPJ research, he has been diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, and pulmonary emphysema.
On May 15, the journalist began a hunger strike, his wife Elsa González Padrón said. The news reports said he is protesting a lack of medical attention, bad sanitary conditions in his cell, his cruel treatment, and the fact that he has not been allowed to practice religion. Arroyo is only permitted to see the sun once a month, added the news reports.
