Havana: A CUBAN dissident group awarded a prize yesterday to the head of Organisation of American States, Luis Almagro, who was denied a visa to accept it in person.
The Cuban authorities denied visas to Almagro and other foreign dignitaries invited to witness him receive Oswaldo Paya prize, named after a dissident who died in 2012 in a car crash under mysterious circumstances.
But some 50 people, including opposition activists, journalists and diplomats, crowded into the Havana home of the dissident’s daughter to award Almagro the prize in his absence.
“We are happy to do this with those who were able to make it,” said 28-year-old Rosa Maria Paya, who leads a group called the Latin American Network of Youths for Democracy.
In her living room, decorated with a Cuban flag and a poster of her father, were two empty chairs—one for Almagro and other in honour of the late Chilean president Patricio Aylwin, who was also recognised. Black plaques bearing Oswaldo Paya’s face were placed in each seat. Almagro, Aylwin’s daughter Mariana, and former Mexican president Felipe Calderon all were blocked from traveling to Cuba for the event.
