Dr. Amauris Sanmartino Update

Here's a quick update on the cuban dissident being repatriated Cuba by the Bolivian Goveremnet, making him Bolivian President Evo Morales's first political prisoner of his tenure, via the International Herald Tribune:

Bolivian court backs expulsion

LA PAZ, Bolivia: A Cuban dissident who has publicly criticized President Evo Morales' close ties to Havana said Wednesday that he fears for his life if he is deported home after a Bolivian court declined to block the move.

Dr. Amauris Sanmartino holds permanent residence status in Bolivia but was arrested this past weekend in the city of Santa Cruz, 540 kilometers (340 miles) east of La Paz, under a law forbidding immigrants to be involved in Bolivian politics.

Sanmartino's lawyers argued that the government did not properly notify Sanmartino of their intent to deport him, but a La Paz district court on Wednesday ruled that was not enough to halt his deportation, which has not yet been scheduled.

At the hearing, Sanmartino accused the Cuban government of working through their Bolivian allies to target him for criticizing Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

"Before they said it was the Americans, but now it's the Cubans who run things here," Sanmartino said. "They're sending me to certain death."

Apart from contacting USAID as Ziva suggested in a previous post, you can now contact incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who will be leading a bipartisan delegation to Bolivia in the next fews days.

Reid's contact form is here.

Also attending will be New Hampshire's Judd Gregg, and he can be contacted here.

Posted by Val Prieto at December 28, 2006 07:34 AM

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Posted by: Jose Aguirre at December 28, 2006 09:02 AM

Posted by: Firefly at December 28, 2006 11:17 AM

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