Family disputes Cuban officials' account of dissident's death

The family of Oswaldo Paya has rejected the Cuban government's claim that the founder of the Christian Liberation Movement died in a traffic accident, saying text messages from two survivors prove that their car was forced off the highway by another vehicle.

“We have information from the messages these men sent to their countries saying the car had been rammed and that they were forced off the road. Therefore, we totally question the news reports,” said Rosa Maria Paya, the daughter of the Cuban dissident who died on July 22.

In statements to Marti Noticias, Rosa Maria said there were too many questions about how the crash occurred and that “nobody has officially communicated” with the family as of yet.

She said the family is still trying to communicate directly with the two survivors of the crash, Angel Carremero of Spain, and Jens Aron Modig of Sweden.

Rosa Maria noted that there was “a history of threats against my father’s life by state police,” and that one such incident occurred two months ago when her parents “were in an accident in which they almost died.”

“We are calling for a serious investigation, an international investigation which we can trust.  We are simply demanding what we have a right to. We are not casting blame nor are we going to blame either of these two men for what happened,” she added.