Havana, Cuba, May 17, 2010 / 19:55 pm
Cuban dissidents said this week that Reina Luisa Tamayo, the mother of deceased political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, is being harassed by state security agents outside her home.
Speaking on the telephone, Reina Tamayo said that despite the pressure from the Communist regime, she would not lose her resolve. “We will not give up the peaceful struggle against the regime,” she stated.
She also said that on May 11 when she went to visit her son’s grave at the cemetery, she noticed that someone had tried to erase his name from the tombstone by using white paint. She said this and the harassment at her home are intended to psychologically upset her.
Cuban dissidents reacted by reminding the government it has the duty to protect the physical and psychological security of Luisa Tamayo and her family. However, in response to the problem, they called on international leaders and the media to demand that the Communist government cease the harassment.
Orlando Zapata Tamayo was a prisoner of conscience who died last February after a prolonged hunger strike amidst the indifference of Cuban officials.