Honoured Cuban dissident says fear behind travel ban

“There are moments in history when one is called upon to be a martyr”. The Cuban dissident’s own words explaining his stance could have been applied to any number of his 23 hunger strikes.

Today Guillermo Fariñas is still recovering from his numerous protests.

There had been hopes of a more tolerant approach from the Cuban government. But he himself had warned that the award of the Sakharov Prize might make his campaign for greater freedom more difficult.

He explained to euronews how he was prevented from travelling to Strasbourg.

“In Cuba, after obtaining a visa you must wait for someone to invite you, because you can’t travel abroad if no-one has done so. The invitation was processed via one of the Cuban consulates, in this case the EU authorities sent the invitation via the Cuban consulate in France. But the card never arrived,” he said.

A journalist and director of the independent Cubanacan Press, Fariñas has received several international awards. His standoff with the authorities earlier this year ended in victory when the government agreed to release 52 political prisoners.

It is the third time the Sakharov Prize has been awarded to Cuban dissidents. Five years ago it went to the “Ladies in White”, who began their protests after the Black Spring of 2003 which saw dozens of their husbands and relatives incarcerated, accused by the authorities of being enemies of the state.

The women were also unable to travel to Strasbourg, unlike the leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Paya – who did make the journey in 2002.

So why was he allowed to come to Europe to receive the EU’s top human rights award, when others have been stopped?

Guillermo Fariñas believes he knows the answer:

“At the time they didn’t see the significance it could have for the maintenance of totalitarian power, the fact that they let Oswaldo Paya go. Today they look with fear that other people might have the same international renown that Oswaldo Paya had to go, denounce and come back.”

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