VZCZCXRO2427
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHUB #0107/01 0551857
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241857Z FEB 10
FM USINT HAVANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5208
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCOGCA/COMNAVBASE GUANTANAMO BAY CU PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCOWCV/CCGDSEVEN MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUEKJCE/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 000107 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CCA AND WHA/PD 
STATE FOR DRL CNEWLING 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV ECON EAID CU
SUBJECT: CUBA BUTTONED DOWN FOLLOWING DEATH OF 
HUNGER-STRIKING POLITICAL PRISONER ORLANDO ZAPATA TAMAYO 
 
REF: FEBRUARY 24 PUBLIC STATEMENT 
 
HAVANA 00000107  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. The situation in Cuba is quiet following 
the February 23 death of political prisoner Orlando Zapata 
Tamayo from a prolonged hunger strike.  Several sources 
reported that up to 50 Zapata supporters had either been 
detained or prevented from leaving their homes, all in 
central and eastern Cuba.  In the midst of all this, the GOC 
is hosting a large Brazilian delegation led by President Lula 
da Silva.  When confronted by the international press today 
at an event with Lula, Cuban President Raul Castro said that 
he regretted the death of Zapata. There is no coverage of the 
death in local press and little awareness of Zapata among 
average Cubans.  Zapata's death has united, at least 
temporarily, Cuba's normally fractured civil society, with 
everyone from bloggers to political party leaders expressing 
shock and disbelief that the Government of Cuba (GOC) allowed 
Zapata to die.  Zapata's families and friends thanked the USG 
for our efforts and solidarity.  USINT has maintained regular 
contact with Zapata's family since his sentencing in 2004 and 
continued to stay in touch with the family during the final 
days of his life.  WHA PDAS Kelly raised Zapata's situation 
directly with the GOC last week during the Migration Talks, 
and USINT invited his family to meet PDAS Kelly at an event 
hosted by the COM in honor of the delegation.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
PREVENTIVE MEASURES TO QUIET SUPPORTERS 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) There was no evidence of political unrest following 
Zapata's death on February 23. Havana and the eastern 
provincial capital of Holguin, where Zapata hailed from, were 
quiet.  The GOC has reportedly taken a number of steps to 
prevent protests and disrupt activists' plans to attend the 
funeral, which will be held tonight in Zapata's hometown of 
Banes, northeast of Holguin.  Following Zapata's death, state 
security reportedly took immediate steps to collect the body 
and escort the family from the capital as quickly as 
possible. Independent journalists have reported that state 
security detained several dissidents in eastern Cuba and 
threatened others with arrest if they attempt to attend the 
funeral or lead any public protests. Multiple sources told 
poloffs that national police have surrounded the houses of 
several opposition leaders in Banes, including that of 
Zapata's family, and are preventing members of civil society 
from approaching the house. 
 
OFFICIAL SILENCE, STUNNED REACTIONS 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) While there has been no local press coverage of the 
death and few among the general public know anything about 
Zapata, word of his death spread quickly among civil society. 
 Zapata is the first political prisoner to die of a hunger 
strike in Cuba since Pedro Luis Boitel's death in 1972 and 
most activists seemed stunned at the news. "This is a 
disaster for Zapata's family," the leader of one human rights 
group told poloff, "but also for the GOC."  Laura Pollan, 
spokesperson for the Damas de Blanco (a group composed of the 
female relatives of political prisoners), expressed disbelief 
that the GOC would allow a political prisoner to die.  Zapata 
was not transferred to Havana until mid-February, when he 
arrived at a prison hospital in the capital, and he did not 
go to a larger, better equipped hospital until he was on the 
brink of death. By then, it was too late. 
 
RARE UNION IN MOURNING 
---------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Zapata's death has succeeded in uniting Cuba's 
famously fractured civil society. Prominent blogger Yoani 
Sanchez, who normally shies away from traditional opposition 
groups, has reported extensively on Zapata's hunger strike 
and his death.  Sanchez shot video of Zapata's mother, Reina 
Luisa Danger Tamayo, outside the hospital shortly after the 
death, then posted it on her blog. She also quoted noted 
human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez, while calling on 
 
HAVANA 00000107  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
other activists for outrage at Zapata's death.  Fellow 
bloggers also reported extensively on his death.  Martha 
Beatriz Roque and Vladimiro Roca, who have been increasingly 
isolated from other opposition figures in recent months, 
joined the Damas de Blanco in making the long drive to Banes 
in an attempt to attend the funeral. 
 
FAMILY, DISSIDENTS THANK USG EFFORTS ON BEHALF OF ZAPATA 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Roque, Pollan and Elizardo Sanchez thanked USINT and 
the USG for our solidarity with Zapata during his ordeal, 
including our February 24 public statement.  Throughout his 
detention, USINT had maintained contact with his family and 
met with Zapata's mother.  Poloffs continued to receive 
updates from Zapata's family and supporters as the hunger 
strike progressed and his condition worsened. 
 
¶6. (SBU) During the Migration Talks held in Havana on 
February 19, the delegation leader, WHA PDAS Craig Kelly, 
raised Zapata's case with Foreign Affairs Vice-Minister 
Dagoberto Rodriguez (Rodriguez claimed not to know of 
Zapata.)  Zapata's mother, step-father and sister were also 
invited to participate in an event hosted by the Chief of 
Mission on February 20 in honor of the delegation.  We 
learned later that the GOC scheduled them to visit Zapata at 
the prison hospital at the same time and told them that it 
was the "only" time available. 
 
BACKGROUND: A DEFIANT BRICKLAYER-TURNED-ACTIVIST 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) At around 4:00 PM on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 
political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo died in police 
custody in a Havana hospital following an 86 day hunger 
strike. Zapata, an Afro-Cuban bricklayer turned 
human-rights-activist, was arrested at the home of prominent 
activist Martha Beatriz Roque in March of 2003 while 
participating in a hunger strike in support of political 
prisoner Oscar Elias Biscet. Although he was arrested as part 
of the "Black Spring" crackdown, Zapata was initially charged 
with minor, non-political crimes and sentenced to only three 
years in prison and thus is not included among the more 
famous 75 who were charged with political crimes and 
sentenced to much longer terms.  Zapata's continued activism 
while in prison eventually earned him additional charges and 
a sentence of more than 25 years, as well as the distinction 
of being recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of 
conscience. 
FARRAR