ARROYO’S WIFE DEMANDS HIS TRANSFER TO HAVANA | Directorio Democrático Cubano

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ARROYO’S WIFE DEMANDS HIS TRANSFER TO HAVANA
By Elsa González Padrón

Statement by Elsa González Padrón, wife of current prisoner of conscience Víctor Rolando Arroyo.

Holguín, Cuba. October 7, 2005.

“My husband, Víctor Rolando Arroyo Carmona, was brought to Lenin Hospital in the province of Holguín this past Monday at 12:10 p.m. in a state of critical condition. An intensive therapy specialist was waiting for him due to the severity of his physical condition.

At this time, he has received only a few medical check-ups. The last and only information I have heard from this doctor was given to me yesterday, Thursday, October 6 at 10 a.m., and I have been able to prove that these results are evidence that my husband has gravely endangered his health due to the 25 days of fasting he carried out.

I have scheduled appointments with physicians, among them specialists, who have told me that in 7 days we will be able to see the damage that this hunger strike has caused to Víctor’s organs, intestines, lungs, and kidneys. The extent of this damage is unknown at this moment. The results I obtained from the doctor I spoke to reveal illnesses that Víctor had been suffering while inside prison, illnesses that were detected one year ago when he was transferred to a hospital in Havana and were not treated in the Guantánamo Hospital such as emphysema and hypertension.

Friends I have spoke to, who are physicians, have told me that the outcome of this can only be seen once his organism begins functioning normally again. Therefore, Víctor should be kept hospitalized for a longer period of time with adequate attention. Furthermore, I was told that Víctor needed psychological attention and that his family should play an important role in his mental recovery.

The same officials have treated me very respectfully (I have to recognize this). And I do believe that this is their duty. One of the things that drove Víctor to his hunger strike was the suffering and the mistreatments we received in the hospital of Guantánamo. These officials told me that we could be a tremendous positive influence during his psychological recovery. But how are we to do this if we are only allowed 20 minutes per visit, and we have been denied such hospital visits daily? How, if we are only able to see him the 4^th of November as a regulation visit and Víctor continues to be 800 kilometers away from his home in Pinar del Río?

We consider what is said to us illogical. If we were to start anew, I would have a right just like other wives to see my husband everyday or at least once a week in the hospital. I have been denied this right and therefore, how am I to know Víctor’s current state of health, whether he has progressed? Do I not have the right to know what is happening to him from his doctors?

This is why I demand Víctor’s transfer to a hospital in Havana where he can obtain adequate medical attention and I can have the rights that correspond to a wife. I ask that he be moved to Pinar del Río, where his entire family can help with his recovery.

Furthermore, I state that the minimum regulations of the UN, and the demands of the European Union signed by 36 countries are not being kept by the prison. But rather, that the government has not provided an answer to the purpose of Víctor’s transfer. I believe that Víctor’s transfer was the solution to a political problem: the world had its eyes on the Cuban government to see what they would do to save Víctor. It was not about saving Víctor’s life, but rather to give a political answer. The reality is that Víctor is still in danger.

He told me on Tuesday, when I was able to see him, that if his rights were not respected, he would return to carry out the hunger strike.

I would like to state that Victor arrived in Holguín that day at, 12:10 in the afternoon, while he was still on hunger strike. The doctors could not touch him upon his arrival, he refused to eat, and he only accepted attention once the official assured him that all of his demands would be satisfied. If those demands were not met he would resume the fast, as he told me Tuesday.

We are very frightened for his life, his body will reach a point where it will not withstand such treatments, his organism will not resist a new situation. Only the authorities, the high authorities, as one official has told me, are the ones that can respond to these demands. We, the family members of Victor, are going to present in Havana in the Central Committee a letter directed to the Head of State, where we will outline Víctors acts of defiance and we hope to receive an adequate response because we have that right.

Also, we are very worried because the doctors we have access to, which are not the doctors treating him, have assured us that a hunger strike like the one Victor carried out may permanently affect his cells to the point where they will stop regenerating. These dead cells will leave gaps in his physical and mental capabilities. This deeply frightens us. We have not received an explanation from any of his doctors regarding this situation. Speaking with Victor I have noticed that Victor does not hear me well and the doctors have not said why. They only tell me Victor is doing very well, but I have noticed in conversation that I have to repeat myself over and over again constantly. The doctors I spoke to yesterday informed me that they have found two potentially harmful lesions in the pit of his eye which can lead to blindness, this too greatly worries us.

I should be leaving to Pinar del Rio Sunday and I leave very worried. The family is worried, we are anguished because we do not know what will happen and in all reality when the doctor was explaining to me the situation he did not speak to me about these consequences.”

Given to the Cuban Democratic Directorate via telephone on October 7, 2005.

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