Distributed by The Cuba Free Press Project.

Havana, December 24, 1997, Cuba Press

HUNGER STRIKE CONTINUES IN SANTA CLARA. Three Remain Hospitalized and Three Have Been Jailed. By Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso, Cuba Press.

The six hunger strikers in Santa Clara have remained on their hunger strike for 75 days. Three have been hospitalized. The others are receiving medical attention at the penal hospitals where they have been jailed.

According to the information received by Cuba Press through Lazaro Garcia Cernuda, a leader of the National Executive of the opposition organization of which the hunger strikers are members, the situation of the hunger strikers is as follows:

Daula Carpio Mata, 33 years old, the leader of the protest and honorary vice president of the Pro Human Rights Party, which is joined to the Andrei Sakharov Foundation, remains in the infirmary at the prison in Guamajal.

Ivan Lema Romero, 35 years old, is at the correctional facility in Manacas. The center's doctor has diagnosed him with peripheral polio.

The third of the hunger strikers to be jailed, Jose Manuel Llera Benitez, 47 years old, is also receiving medical attention at the La Grima penal facility.

The same source advised us that the remaining hunger strikers are at the old hospital in Santa Clara. They are:

Lilliam Meneses Martinez, 45 years old, due to dehydration, monoleasis and glocitis. On Thursday, December 25, in the morning hours, she was taken to the intensive case wing of the hospital.

Liliana Penalver Duque, 26 years old, remains hospitalized.

Also, Jose Antonio Albarado, was admitted on Thursday, December 25. Several days earlier he had gone to the facility but had not been admitted due to "a shortage of beds". This is the second time Alvarado has been admitted to the hospital since the start of the hunger strike.

The Hunger Strikers For Democracy, as they are known, started their hunger strike on October 6, as their protest for the unexpected incarceration of Daula Carpio Mata, as she awaited trial and after denouncing the illegal arrests of independent journalists and other peaceful opposition members. They are presently demanding the anullment of their sentences because they believe themselves to be innocent of the charges.

The end. Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso, Cuba Press.