Alarcón blames U.S. for Cuban antiterrorist's health

Written by Hector Miranda
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
(Pretty rough Google translation)

Havana, Jul 28 (Prensa Latina) President of the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba, Ricardo Alarcón, today blamed the U.S. government for the health of terrorism Gerardo Hernandez, a prisoner in that country and suffering from physical problems.

"Gerardo's health is in danger and the situation is entirely responsible for the government of the United States," Alarcon said in Havana Convention Center, which employs the standing committees of Parliament prior to the fifth session of the seventh legislature this body.

Alarcon also emphasized that what obstructs justice in the case of the anti-terrorist is to have confined him to the hole in the prison in Victorville, Calif., without having committed any indiscipline.

For the speaker of the Cuban parliament, this is a very serious situation because the defendant is not only in the hole, but in terms of punishment, in a tiny cell, without ventilation, with only a tiny hole at the top of the wall of the cell he shares with another prisoner.

"The U.S. government knows that Gerardo has some physical ailments, for which he has been demanding to be examined by doctors since last April," said Alarcon, who warned that only the July 20 allowed him to attend a consultation.

The next day, however, they took him to the hole, a cell six feet long by one wide, where the temperatures exceed 35 degrees Celsius, [95 degrees Fahrenheit] even though he was diagnosed with several problems and even without treatment.

Apparently, said Alarcón, Gerardo has problems with a bacteria, said the doctor who attended him, circulated among the prison population, with some severe cases, although certainly not known if the Cuban situation, because you have not done analysis.

Gerardo has also apparently altered the blood pressure. He is a young man, who just turned 45, but has passed 12 in really difficult conditions and tight, he said.

Alarcon expressed their concern about the health of the Cuban terrorist, despite the will of this, especially because he has no medical attention.

"So far we have complained to the State Department and we had no answer. Because it's not just that he is in the hole, but in terms of punishment in the hole," he recalled.

He warned that is no communication with their lawyers, just as appeals procedures are performed, a situation that was repeated constantly throughout the process.

"Gerardo should be working with his lawyers in the grounds of habeas corpus. Knows that the U.S. government and in this moment I have no communication with their lawyers, without getting mail, completely isolated and sick on top of that, with risks to the integrity physics, "he said.