As we informed last week, Ariel Sigler Amaya arrives in Miami tomorrow (today) 28 July 2010.

A humanitarian fund account has been set-up for him at BB&T Bank of Miami to help with his healthcare costs.

Ariel Sigler -Humanitarian Fund
Acct # 0000148280827

Former Cuban political prisoner Ariel Sigler Amaya will fly to Miami on Wednesday, July 28, to receive needed medical care, according to Radio Martí, citing an AFP report.

Radio Marti informs [in Spanish] that after yesterday's assault, and subsequent phone call from Cuban Cardinal and La Habana's Archbishop Jaime Ortega, the regime has finally given Ariel Sigler Amaya the Permit needed to leave Cuba for the US so that he can receive medical attention. Ariel's wife, Noelia, explained to Radio Martí that Ortega had called to tell her that he had personally interceded with the authorities for Ariel, and that they would be contacting her soon to confirm. They called her today. She stated that despite the outcome, she was not happy given "the high price that must be paid in Cuba to be able to leave the country."

More with audio [in Spanish] at the link.

Radio Martí informs [in Spanish] that Ariel Sigler Amaya has been beaten and detained at the Immigration and Naturalization Offices in the city of Matanzas. He had staged a protest, as he had promised, because the regime refuses to give him the exit permit needed to receive medical attention in the U.S.

Other sources inform through Twitter from Cuba that he is still being held in the municipality of Pedro Betancourt

Informs his brother, Miguel Sigler Amaya, in a note circulated [in Spanish] on Facebook. This is our translation:

During the afternoon of yesterday 14 July 2010, Ariel Sigler Amaya, and some of his relatives arrived at the [provincial] Immigration offices in the Cuban province of Matanzas, to obtain his “White Card” (Carta Blanca) or Permit to Leave the Country [which is required to leave Cuba in all cases]. They were received by an officer of the Ministry of Interior* named Mercedes who told them that it wasn’t yet the time to give them said document, and that he must wait.

This reply from the functionary aroused a protest from Ariel and his relatives which [in turn] caused a serious incident. Ariel Sigler displayed a sign that read “I AM DYING, [AND] SECURITY OF STATE DENIES MY PERMIT TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY.”

Several officers surrounded Ariel Sigler, and there were shoves and pushes, as well as shouts again the Castroite dictatorship. A few minutes later, a Security of State Lieutenant Colonel [whose last name is] Barreto, appeared and in a rude and aggressive fashion told them that this issue would be solved by Monday 19 July.

The entire Sigler Amaya family, including all the women and even the [gravely] ill Ariel Sigler as well as his wife, decided that if on Monday 19 July they have not yet received the Permit; they will start a hunger strike in a public place, and hold Security of State responsible for the outcome.

This delay by the Castroite dictatorship in issuing the Permit to Leave the Country to the gravely ill Ariel Sigler Amaya, who has a US government issued humanitarian visa because of his [multiple] illness[es]; contrasts [negatively] with the expedited manner in which several political prisoners have been exiled to Spain and to whom the regime has issued their travel papers in just three days.

Via Marc Masferrer

The U.S. Interest Section in Havana has granted former Cuban political prisoner Ariel Sigler Amaya a visa to travel to the United States to received needed medical care, according to Diario de Cuba, citing a Radio Martí report.

Sigler's body was ravaged during his more than seven years of unjust imprisonment in the Castro gulag. His legs are paralyzed, and in the week since his release his family has witnessed how sick Sigler is.

"Ariel continues to be in critical condition," said his brother, Juan Francisco Sigler Amaya. Juan said Ariel has suffered vomiting, diarrhea, fainting spells, fatigue and cold sweats.

As for the visa, it is only for Ariel, meaning he would have to travel alone, although he does have a brother, Miguel, who lives in Miami.

But before Ariel can get on a plane, the Cuban government will have to grant him an exit [permit] which is never a sure thing.

The following op-ed appeared yesterday 16 June 2010 on the Argentinian newspaper La Nación.  This is our translation:

Despite the hypocritical condescension of some, the truth is that the communist regime in Cuba is totalitarian, and has generated a social environment in which there is no respect whatsoever for human rights nor individual and political freedoms. The people of Cuba seem also condemned to live in misery, and in all sorts of privations.

Once in a while, a harsh reminder reveals to us the immense cruelty of the regime that has kept Cubans hostage, and transformed the island in a vast prison from which they can get out only if the government allows them; where, furthermore, one cannot think different without committing the crime of having an opinion, punished with prison in Cuban jails, possibly the most inhumane in the world.

This is the shocking message of the recent release of Ariel Sigler, one of the gravely ill Cuban political prisoners. He [is now a] paraplegic due to a neurological disease, wheel chair ridden, with serious problems with his stomach, esophagus and throat, and less than sixty percent of [how much he] weight[ed] when he was arrested.

The health of Ariel Sigler, or more accurately what is left of Ariel Sigler, seems [totally] destroyed. [At] Barely 47 years of age, the president of Movimiento Independiente Opción Alternativa [Alternative Option Independent Movement] looks like a decaying old man. This is how he returned to his family’s house after seven years of imprisonment for thinking differently [from the regime]. He was condemned to twenty years. Despite all that, when he arrived, he promised to continue fighting for freedom. His health may be defeated, but not his courage.

The inhumane treatment he received is in plain sight for all to see, even those who refuse to see. It is possible that the efforts of valiant Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega, who personally knows what imprisonment is, would have contributed to his [almost too late] release. Perhaps, it is possible that the transfer of other political prisoners with precarious health closer to their relatives will materialize soon.

Sigler, let us remember, belonged to the Group of 75, those imprisoned during Cuba’s Black Spring of 2003. He was kept in several prisons in [the Cuban provinces of] Ciego de Ávila, Villa Clara y Cienfuegos, all far from his place of residence in [the province of] Matanzas. This shows the cruelty of the regime with the dissidents.

In another corner of the island, in this case in a hospital 400 km from La Habana, another inmate, Guillermo Fariñas*, has been on hunger strike for four months. As it happened with courageous dissident Orlando Zapata, Fariñas may die as a result of his voluntary fast. The horror of what happens in Cuba is shocking, and because of that it cannot and should not be silenced.

Cuban political prisoner Ariel Sigler Amaya has been left an invalid by his more than seven years in the Castro gulag. He is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair.

They have broken his body, but try as they might, Sigler's captors have not quashed his spirit, they have not stamped out his will to fight the injustice and cruelty the Castro dictatorship's very existence represents.

Sigler's health condition is precarious, but his brother tells Radio Martí this week that Sigler is laying on the line what little of his health is left to protest the regime's lies.

Juan Francisco Sigler Amaya said his brother has decided to refuse any medical care, included needed medications, until he is transferred to a Havana hospital closer to his family, as the government had earlier promised. And if there is no response to his demand, Ariel is prepared to begin a hunger strike.