Cuba dissident Juan Wilfredo Soto 'dies after arrest'
A Cuban government opponent has died several days after being arrested
and allegedly beaten by police, dissidents have said.
Juan Wilfredo Soto, 46, had to receive hospital treatment after being
detained during a protest Santa Clara.
One prominent dissident, Elizardo Sanchez, has called for an independent
inquiry, saying Mr Soto's death should not go unpunished.
Cuban authorities have made no immediate comment on the death.
Mr Soto died on Sunday in the central city of Santa Clara, fellow
dissident Guillermo Farinas told the Associated Press news agency.
He said Mr Soto had been detained and beaten on Thursday during an
anti-government protest.
Mr Soto was among those who supported a 134-day hunger strike by Mr
Farinas last year to press for the release of political prisoners.
"If we do not do something, so that the government changes its stand
toward peaceful protestors, we are going to be reporting even more
deaths," Mr Farinas told AFP.
Elizardo Sanchez, leader of the dissident Cuban Commission for Human
Rights and National Reconciliation, said he was convinced Mr Soto's
death was linked his detention.
"We believe that the blows he received were a catalyst," he said,
adding: "We do not think there was a political intent to kill him, but
there was a struggle when he was yelling anti-government slogans."
Cuban authorities generally refer to dissidents as common criminals or
mercenaries paid by Washington to destabilise the communist system.
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