AFP reports that US Senator Robert Menéndez, called Guillermo Fariñas, Cuban opposition activist in a hunger strike, at his hospital room in Santa Clara, Cuba.

After the phone conversation, Mr. Menéndez, a Democrat and Senator for the State of New Jersey, stated that "Individuals like Guillermo Farinas and Orlando Zapata Tamayo are evidence of the unbearable brutality of the Castro regime and the tragic state of political prisoners in Cuba," and that "Guillermo was resolute in his position that the rights of Cuba's political prisoners must be honored,"

Fariñas told the Senator that "This is a personal problem between myself and Raul Castro," the Cuban dictator who has accused the US and Europe of orchestrating a "media campaign against Cuba".

"He says that we are mercenaries, and I'm going to show that we are patriots, willing to die for our ideas," said Fariñas.

More at the link.