Pedro Luis Boitel (May 13, 1931–May 25, 1972) was a

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

poet and

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established Political system, political or Organized religion, religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and ...

who opposed the governments of both

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator ...

and

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

. In 1961, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Boitel died during a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

in prison in 1972 while serving a sentence handed down by the communist regime.

Before the revolution

Pedro Luis Boitel was born into a humble family originally from Picardy (France), and studied at the

University of Havana The University of Havana or (UH, ''Universidad de La Habana'') is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba. Founded on January 5, 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first ...

while also working as a radio technician. In the 1950s Boitel opposed the government of

and went into exile in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

where he collaborated with

Rómulo Betancourt Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello (22 February 1908 – 28 September 1981; ), known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", was the president of Venezuela, serving from 1945 to 1948 and again from 1959 to 1964, as well as leader of Acción De ...

in his efforts to overthrow

Marcos Pérez Jiménez Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez (25 April 1914 – 20 September 2001) was a Venezuelan military and general officer of the Army of Venezuela and the dictator of Venezuela from 1950 to 1958, ruling as member of the military junta from 195 ...

's military government by setting up a

pirate radio Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially w ...

station in that country. After the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...

, Boitel returned to Cuba and resumed his studies at the University of Havana. In 1959, Boitel ran for president of the University Students' Federation (''Federación Estudiantil Universitaria''; FEU) at the University of Havana and was backed by the

26th of July Movement The 26th of July Movement ( es, Movimiento 26 de Julio; M-26-7) was a Cuban vanguard revolutionary organization and later a political party led by Fidel Castro. The movement's name commemorates its 26 July 1953 attack on the army barracks on San ...

. Even though

headed this movement, Castro and the other revolutionary leaders removed their support for Boitel. Castro personally intervened in the student elections at the University of Havana to remove Boitel from the FEU presidency.

Jail and hunger strike

As a Christian, Boitel became dissatisfied with political events in Cuba and formed a clandestine organization, The Movement to Recuperate the Revolution (MRR). In 1961 Boitel was detained and accused of conspiracy against the state, and was summarily sentenced to ten years in jail. He was not released after the 10-year sentence. It is claimed that Boitel was tortured and beaten several times and that his mother Claretta was humiliated when she went to visit him in jail. The

Inter-American Commission of Human Rights The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des Droits de l'Homme'', ...

found that the Cuban government had violated Article I of the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man in their treatment of the prisoner. Boitel sought authorization to leave Cuba but his requests were denied. On April 3, 1972, Boitel declared himself on hunger strike. After 53 days on hunger strike without receiving medical assistance and receiving only liquids, he died of starvation on May 25, 1972. His last days were related by his close friend, poet

Armando Valladares Armando Valladares Perez (born May 30, 1937) is a Cuban-American poet, diplomat and former political prisoner for his involvement in the Cuban dissident movement. In 1960, he was arrested by the Cuban government for conflicting reasons; the C ...

. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the Cólon Cemetery in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. In 1973, the year after Boitel died, Claretta gave an interview about her son via a phone conversation with Tomás Regalado, a news editor for

WFAB WFAB (890 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Christian radio format. It is licensed to Ceiba, Puerto Rico Ceiba () is both a small town and a municipality in northeast Puerto Rico. It is named after the famous Ceiba tree. Ceiba is locat ...

, a Spanish language radio station in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The phone call was recorded for WFAB (with Claretta's permission), lasted for 20-minutes and aired on the station the same year (again, Claretta gave permission). The phone call was also notable because foreign telephone calls out of Cuba were closely monitored. This call was apparently unnoticed by the Cuban government who were unaware of it until it aired on the radio. The Cuban government bans journalists from having interviews with dissidents or their relatives.

References

External links

Foreword to Boitel Vive
Gabriel Salvia y Hans Blomeier

Before the revolution

Jail and hunger strike

References

External links

See also