Let me be buried on this spot! (Updated continuously)

The Guillermo Fariñas Blogburst

UPDATE: Welcome all new readers! This BlogBurst effort was the brainchild of Fausta Wertz and is meant solely for the highlighting of the hunger strike for net access by Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez in fidel castro's Cuba. I urge you all to take a few minutes of your day and read the excellent commentary in the linked blogs below and do whatever you can to help spread the word about Dr. Fariñas and the lack of personal freedoms that exists in Cuba. Please also take a moment to sign this petition in support of the Doctor. One more signature may not seem like all that much, but it lets Mr. Fariñas, other dissidents and the people of Cuba know that there is at least one more person on their side. Gracias.

Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez doesnt have any RBI's. He's hit no fastballs out of the park and he doesnt play shortstop, second base, center field or otherwise. He's never been on the pitching mound and has never struck out a soul. He doesnt own or wear a uniform with the word Cuba across the front and he's never worn a pair of cleats. He's never had an at bat.

Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez isnt a baseball player for the Cuban National Team. That's why you havent heard anything about him. He doesnt play for fidel castro. That's why the MSM is oblivious to his one predominant statistic: He has gone without food or water for 57 days.

Fifty-seven days. Almost two whole months.

Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez deserves more attention than any team, any game, any tournament. He's not in it for the props or bragging rights. It isnt about propaganda and what system of government is better at producing anything. He is in it for one reason and one reason alone: freedom. All Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez wants is access to this very same internet through which you are reading this right now. He is starving himself for access to what you have at the click of a button.

Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez is a Psychologist. Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez is a journalist. Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez is a Cuban. Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez is, for all intents and purposes, the David to fidel castro's Goliath.

And Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez will most certainly die because fidel castro's government can only stay in power one way: by keeping the Cuban people deaf, blind and dumb. Allowing Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez access to the internet is allowing him access to the truth and for a regime built on lies and deception, the truth is a cancer.

The last MSM report on Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez was March 17. Ten days without food have gone by since and the man is just that much closer to death.

Let's not be like the MSM who are undoubtedly waiting for Dr. Fariñas' demise before they publish their next report on his courageous and dignified stance against his oppressors.

Patrick Henry stated "Give me liberty, or give me death" when facing tyranny from his own Goliath. Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez has done the same.

You and I can be that man at the window, who, upon hearing Henry's cry shouted "Let me be buried on this spot!"

The following blogs have risen to the ocassion and taken Dr. Fariñas' plight to heart. Please join us and help spread the word. Below the fold you'll find all the contact information you need to help this Cuban Patrick Henry.

Fausta's Blog:

Today, bloggers across the world honor a brave man, Guillermo Fariñas.

Dean's World:

A man is dying on behalf of a basic freedom that every single one of you enjoys, and probably take for granted.

They don't even deny people this freedom in China--they try to censor it, but they don't deny people access to it. In China they have it better! Is it even thinkable?

The Cottilion:

TODAY, now, take two minutes and sign a petition. It costs you nothing, you won't get spammed, and you'll be doing something that people in Cuba can't do at all.

Gall and Wormwood:

Desperate to maintain his rule, this bloody-handed despot must deny the truth to those trapped in the prison he’s made of Cuba. For his temerity in reporting the abuses of the Cuban state apparatus, Fariñas has been beaten, vilified, defamed, and denied access to the Internet. Having no other recourse, in his extremity Fariñas has taken up the only weapon available, his life, to fight against this oppression.

Critical Miami:

So says Guillermo Fariñas, who has been on a hunger strike for 55 days, after his e-mail was taken away by the Cuban regime. We are blogging about this because we agree that it is an injustice, although I’m pessimistic about the power of blogs to make much difference in this case. Why is it that ten years after the fall of most communist regimes in Europe, Cuba is still in this impossible situation?

INDC Journal:

A journalist has rejected food and water for 57 days to protest the Castro government's denial of unfettered internet access to the Cuban people. The last update on his condition simply states that he's "about to die."

We'd know more about his condition, but ... well ... Cuban journalists don't have uncensored access to the internet.

Cagey Mind:

Some people would ask why someone would do this. It is the sort of thing that goes against reason - starving yourself. But there are those who would rather die standing than live on thier knees. It is an American tradition to be sure. But it is also a Cuban tradition. We have “Give me Liberty or give me Death.” Cuba has “Viva la Cuba Libre.”

Gay Orbit:

Would you die for access to the Internet? This guy would.

Wall Street Cafe:

Guilermo Fariñas is now on his 57th day of hunger strike, willing to die and be a martyr for his cause. Still it is one of the most unreported and not covered news stories around. The silence is deafening.

J. Scott Barnard:

Take a moment and imagine what your world would be like if you had no internet. Think what it would be like to have only one source for information, George Bush. TV, magazines, newspapers...all run by the Whitehouse. What would you do?

26th Parallel:

What are you doing right now? Pretty obvious answer, right?

Unfortunately, the man pictured below has been starving himself for almost 2 months now for not being able to do what we are doing this very moment. For something that bloggers and journalists routinely do.

Economics with a Face (From mainland China!):

Dying For The Internet.

Havana 50/60:

This man, Farinas, is fighting and dying for the very right to do what many of us are doing now - blogging, publishing, exchanging and sharing information, graphics, sound, tidbits, whatever you want to call it, through that fantastic, unifying medium known as the Internet, the Web, la Red - no, not the color. Information is power, and information can lead to liberation. That is what el barbudo and his twittering hyenas are afraid of - liberation/liberacion/freedom/freiheit/libertad.

Paxety Pages:

''I got on my knees and said, `Down With Fidel!'" said Guillermo Farinas, a 41-year-old psychologist-turned-independent-(and anti-establishment)-journalist, as he reported the events of a government agent mob attack to The Miami Herald.

"They started kicking and beating me, bruising my back, arm and head. They stopped when they saw I would not lose my dignity and say things I didn't feel," he continued.

Uncommon Sense:

In Cuba, freedom is against the law. And anyone who resists the exercise of Fidel Castro’s tyranny is an outlaw, whether they do so silently, like a majority of Cubans, or whether they step up — like independent journalist Guillermo Farinas — and put at risk their life and what little liberty they might have and go public with their opposition to the regime.

Killcastro:

This brightest of lights emanates from one of us, Guillermo el Coco Fariñas, a Cuban caught in the irony that is communist Cuba.

The difference is that he cannot join us in blogging, because the tyrant that rules Cuba with a bloodied iron fist denies the Cuban people the chance to access the information that the whole world is able to share through the internet.

Blog for Cuba:

Choice, the choice to die for freedom is a solitary decision. "If God wants me to die, I will die. I will be a martyr for the free information in the World." It's in God's hands, he knows the choice he's made, and he knows only a miracle will save him. He knows fidel castro will not allow access to information. He also knows he is a free man, whether here among us or with his maker.

Texidor Blog:

There is not much time left in the life of Guillermo Fariñas. He will have accomplished all he can for the cause of freedom in Cuba with his last breath. From that point on, it's up to others to make his contribution a lasting one. The efficacy of his sacrifice will depend on the ability of others to make the world aware of the cause for which he is willing to give his life.

El Confeti:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” - Amendment I of the United States Constitution

El Cafe Cubano:

"If God wants me to die, I will die. I will be a Martyr for the Free information in the World"- Guillermo Fariñas Hernández

The Universal Spectator:

Unless you are Guillermo Fariñas. Today is the 57th day of his hunger strike. What is he demanding? The right to do the very thing I am doing now. Help Guillermo Fariñas (and the other Cubans on the island) in this struggle of good vs. evil. Call your Senators, Congressmen, local news stations and the news networks and tell them what this man is doing and why he is doing it. Cuba is not free, despite what the useful idiots want you to believe. Keep the pressure on Cuba to end its evil system.

Brandon's Puppy:

Support the cause. Help get the word out on the plight of Dr. Fariñas and the rest of the Cuban people. Link. Talk. Email. Write. Tell everyone you know about this. The truth shall set them free.

Latino Issues:

This is why, to me, Fariñas battle is so important. Freedom of religion, economic prosperity, and social justice CANNOT happen without the freedom of information for which he now gives his life. So, use the liberty you have, practice the free speach men have died to grant you, and spread the word of Guillermo Fariñas and his fight for freedom!!

Willisms:

Cuban journalist Guillermo Fariñas Hernández has not had food or water since January 31st, and is now in critical condition. Why? He is on a hunger strike against Fidel Castro's red fascist regime, and has vowed death if Cuban journalists are not allowed internet access.

Shrink Wrapped:

Communism and its refined methodology of thought control (which includes gulags in its past and present and political correctness among its present offspring) is still with us and still exercising its waning power to destroy people's humanity in its attempts to control people's thoughts.

Publius Pundit:

very brave independent Cuban journalist is on his 57th day of a hunger strike for the right to Internet access in Cuba. Guillermo Farinas Hernandez’s case has gotten little media attention, but it’s an important struggle for freedom of information inside news-starved Cuba. Castro knows very well the power of the Internet and its challenge to his brutal and increasingly tattered dictatorship. That’s why he’s repressing the brave ones who dare challenge his rule … not with guns, but with a hunger strike for free information.

American Thinker:

Although Cuba is treated like an equal instead of a pariah in places like the United Nations, the Internet is virtually illegal in Fidel Castro’s Cuba. Almost alone among the world’s nations, including even oppressive states like Burma and Zimbabwe, Cubans are deprived of access to Internet unlike almost any other nation on earth.

Atlas Shrugs:

Over thirty bloggers are posting today about Guillermo Fariñas, the Cuban prisioner of conscience who's on hunger strike for being denied internet access.

Chez Diva:

Guillermo Farinas represents the real Cuba. The Cuba that Hollywood, the MSM and some in Liberal circles ignore. The Cuba that I’ve described in the past as a country under the dictatorship of Fidel Castro in which:

” … one is not allowed the luxury of choice, freedom of speech or expression. Many in the US and Europe have no idea what it is like to be shackled to a country or to its dictator. We come and go as we please. We have no fear of speaking out against our leaders. We live in what many consider to be an economic Mecca of great wealth. So for many of us it is impossible to understand the suffering of those who are kept imprisoned by Communism.

My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy:

It’s easy to feel powerless, facing such obstacles to freedom. Signing petitions online also seems rather impotent, but it’s better than nothing. Someone will know you are there supporting their cause, so at least do that much. Educate yourself a little today about Cuba, and maybe you’ll feel the outrage that Cuban-Americans feel–and only because they are here, they can express–and spread the word.

Striving for Average:

Information and access to information are one of the cornerstones of a free people. You’re being asked to do three things. Be aware, think, and sign a petition. The first two items are up to you, the third one I can help

Likelihood of Confusion:

Support and link to this blog entry about Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez....this is germane to one of our central topics, free speech, especially as it relates to the Internet.

Michelle Malkin:

A CUBAN JOURNALIST IS STARVING...

...to protest the Cuban dictatorship's restrictions on free speech and Internet access.

Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez has gone without food or water for 57 days.

Reporters without Borders:

Reporters Without Borders voiced alarm today about the state of health of two imprisoned journalists who are on hunger strike, Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta and Guillermo Fariñas Hernández, calling for a humanitarian gesture from the Cuban authorities and for foreign embassies in Havana to intercede.

“How are we to interpret this indifference about the slow death of two individuals who are just demanding the right to express their views and surf the Internet freely,” the press freedom organisation said. “And what danger could possibly come from two people who are so physically and mentally debilitated ?”

Instapundit:

FIGHTING FOR Internet freedom in Cuba.

MacStansbury:

And, finally, you probably never head about Guillermo Fariñas Hernandez. No, you haven’t heard about him. It’s too painful to hear. He is a man, starving himself for freedom.

Where he protesting the Evil Capitalist Bush Adminstration™, he’d be on the cover of every magazine, every newscast. But he isn’t calling for the troops out of Iraq. No, he is voluntarily starving himself for freedom…in Cuba.

More:

Right Wing Sparkle
The C Square
Chicago Boyz
Cubanology
Cuban-American Pundits

Posted by Val Prieto at March 27, 2006 05:57 AM

Comments

Posted by: Jose Aguirre at March 27, 2006 09:03 AM

Posted by: Marc Masferrer at March 27, 2006 09:34 AM

Posted by: Beth at March 27, 2006 11:11 AM

Posted by: Jzangroniz at March 27, 2006 11:49 AM

Posted by: Rightwingsparkle at March 27, 2006 01:47 PM

Posted by: churrito at March 27, 2006 02:00 PM

Posted by: Songuacassal at March 27, 2006 06:57 PM

Posted by: Jzangroniz at March 27, 2006 10:56 PM