Héctor Fernando Maseda Gutiérrez
Born (1943-01-18) January 18, 1943
Havana, Cuba
Occupation(s)Nuclear engineer, journalist
SpouseLaura Inés Pollán Toledo
AwardsCPJ International Press Freedom Award (2008)

Héctor Fernando Maseda Gutiérrez (born 18 January 1943) is a Cuban nuclear engineer and a journalist.

The Fidel Castro regime arrested him during the 2003 "Black Spring" and sentenced him to 20 years in jail. He was released in February, 2011.[1] Amnesty International named him a prisoner of conscience and called for his immediate release.[2] In 2008, he won an International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists. The award is given for journalists who show courage in defending press freedom in the face of attacks, threats or imprisonment.[3][4][5]

Finally, I believe this testimony could be assumed as an insistent voice for all those who suffer the horror that characterizes despotic and oligarchic government models. This work will travel, like a galloping knight armed with his sword, morally strengthened or blessed by the truth, to all the latitudes of the planet it can visit and it will act as a public and challenging message to those who control people and countries in any part of the world.

— Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez in his acceptance letter, sent from Aguïca Maximum Security Prison.[6]

He was a nuclear engineer before being sacked at the end of the 1980s for ideological errors.[5]

Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez was married to Laura Inés Pollán Toledo. Pollán Toledo was a founding member of the Ladies in White. She lost her job as a high school Spanish teacher in 2003.[5][7][8] Laura Inés Pollán Toledo died on October 14, 2011.[9][10]

In prison, Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez managed to write his memoirs, Enterrados Vivos (English: Buried Alive), which was smuggled out one page at time.[4] His wife sent a copy to Fidel Castro.[11] Upon his release in February, Meseda claimed that he was "released against his will," as he refused to leave jail unless he was exonerated or pardoned, along with the rest of the Black Spring prisoners.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Cuba dissidents Hector Maseda and Angel Moya released". BBC News. 13 February 2011.
  2. ↑ "Cuba urged to release jailed activists". Amnesty International. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  3. ↑ "CPJ to honor brave international journalists". Committee to Protect Journalists. 25 November 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, Founder and contributor, Grupo de Trabajo Decoro". The Committee to Protect Journalists.
  5. 1 2 3 "Héctor Fernando Maseda Gutiérrez". The Reporters Without Borders. Archived from the original on 2007-10-31.
  6. ↑ "From an awardee, behind bars". The Committee To Protect Journalists.
  7. ↑ "Ladies in White Address the UN Human Rights Council". Archived from the original on 2009-04-29.
  8. ↑ Carlos Lauria; Monica Campbell; María Salazar (March 18, 2008). "Cuba's Long Black Spring". The Committee To Protect Journalists.
  9. ↑ "Laura Pollan, founder of Cuban protest group dies". Associated Press.
  10. ↑ "Cuba Ladies in White founder dies". BBC.
  11. ↑ "El preso político Héctor Maseda envía a Fidel Castro un libro sobre la situación en las cárceles - El texto, con dedicatoria del disidente, fue entregado por la Dama de Blanco Laura Pollán en la sede del Consejo de Estado".
  12. ↑ "Cuban dissidents freed against their will". Archived from the original on 2021-12-20.

This is the testimony book in two parts Hector Maseda wrote while he was a prisoner:

Maseda, Hector: Enterrados Vivos - Part 1: http://www.solidaridadconcuba.com/documentos/EnterradosVivos%20-%20HMaseda.pdf

Maseda, Hector: Enterrados Vivos - Part 2: http://ebookbrowsee.net/gdoc.php?id=304808581&url=2ac324d3275756d585e72b44f96b2449

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