14ymedio, Miami, 25 January 2017 — The former political prisoner Arturo Perez de Alejo, who was part of the Group of 75, died Wednesday in Miami at 66, as reported by MartíNoticias .
Pérez Alejo was born in Manicaragua, in the then province of Las Villas, on 23 May 1951 to a peasant family.
During the nineties, in the middle of the Special Period, he began his dissident activity. He participated actively in the Democratic Action Movement, the Nationalist Action Party and the Independent Democratic Front.
In addition, he founded the Escambray Independent Organization For The Defense Of Human Rights, of which he held the presidency, and he was noted for his dissemination of the Varela Project, a civic initiative promoted by the late Oswaldo Payá to demand more liberties in the island.
In 2003 he was imprisoned in the repressive wave known as the Black Spring. He was imprisoned for five years, and the conditions of his imprisonment greatly undermined his health
In 2003 he was imprisoned in the 2003 repressive wave known as the Black Spring. He was imprisoned for five years, and the conditions of his imprisonment greatly undermined his health.
During his imprisonment he was recognized as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. In June 2010, through the efforts of the Catholic Church, he was released and exiled to Spain.
He later moved to Miami, where he resided until his death. He spent his last years closely linked to the work of organizations of the Cuban exile.
