Cuba state TV airs report allegedly showing neighbor passing food into hunger striker’s home

By The Associated Press

HAVANA — Cuban state television aired images Tuesday night raising questions about the recent hunger strike by a prominent dissident.

The 15-minute segment broadcast on the nightly news included testimony from a neighbor saying he took fruit and vegetables to dissident Martha Beatriz Roque.

Video supposedly shot outside Roque’s home showed someone passing avocados and other food inside a window to a woman. Her face was not visible, but the voice on the audio sounded like Roque’s.

“She told me in a very low voice, ‘I am on hunger strike.’ I asked for how long. ‘Since yesterday,’” said a man identified as Humberto Gonzalez. He described himself as a neighbor with a window adjacent to Roque.

“She said she needed me to get her fruits, vegetables, above all things that didn’t need cooking, and she gave me money,” Gonzalez said.

Reached by phone late Tuesday, Roque declined to confirm or deny the veracity of the images, expressing anger over the public transmission of private conversations and accusing authorities of trying to discredit the purpose of the protest.

“You offend me with that question,” she said. “An avocado cannot bring down a hunger strike.”

Roque and at least two dozen other activists announced the hunger strike Sept. 10 to demand the release of Jorge Vazquez, an anti-government activist imprisoned for common crimes. They called off the protest Sept. 18, saying the government had promised to free Vazquez.

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