Bishop visits a hospitalized biologist for a hunger strike

Havana.- The Cuban biologist Ariel Ruiz Urquiola on a hunger strike to protest his one-year prison sentence, was visited by the Catholic bishop of Pinar del Río, Jorge Serpa in the hospital of the province where he is admitted, informed Efe from a family source.

Omara Ruiz Urquiola, sister of the detainee, explained that the prelate – who is also responsible for the pastoral care of the Cuban episcopate – visited the biologist, with whom he spoke for more than an hour with "intellectual and human empathy" among them. "The father [Jorge Serpa] did not try to change his position to keep fasting, but it was a satisfying conversation for both sides," said the scholar's sister who went on strike from the hungry and thirsty since June 17.

The environmental activist Ariel Ruiz Urquiola 44 years old, was sentenced on May 8 to one year in prison for a crime of contempt and began the protest to denounce the irregularities in his case because he considers that his sentence was "unfair" and "arbitrary".

Her sister Omara, a resident of Havana, said that whenever he went to the hospital, he was receiving a medical report on his brother's situation. – he remained "oriented" and continued to receive intravenous chlorine-sodium and dextrose serums.

He said that the biologist, according to the medical report, had a "stable" pulse and heart rate, although he continues to lose weight. because, obviously, he is already consuming the reserves of his body. "

" My brother stays in his position, he is not lobbying to be released in an unfair manner and we are not asking for the leniency even of the lg We are only asking for a fair review of the l & # 's And the evidence that we have presented is recognized, "said Omara Ruiz

Ariel Ruiz Urquiola is a doctor of biological sciences and in 2016 he was dismissed from the University of Havana, where he was working as an investigator, after being accused of repeated absences and unmotivated, a motive that the activist rejects at the same time. He considers that he was the victim of an abuse of power during his dismissal.

A year earlier, he had obtained the concession in usufruct of a farm of the Pinar del Río Valley of Viñales, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He launched an environmental project with his family and friends to preserve local species and develop sustainable agricultural projects.

Ruiz Urquiola was arrested by police on May 3 after two guardsmen visited the farm. and they will ask for legal permits to operate in the place.

The biologist's family believes that the authorities deliberately jailed him in retaliation for his environmental activism and as a strategy to deprive him of the state lands in which he was carrying out his project, given the great potential tourist of the place where they are.

Ruiz Urquiola was declared "prisoner of conscience" on June 12 by the organization of Amnesty International, who demanded his release "immediately and unconditionally" on the grounds that he was imprisoned "solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression."

Over the past week, the US government and the secretary general of the United States The Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, have also called for his release. 19659018] Cuba