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| An international campaign for his release, led by his wife Marta, culminated in ] President ] making a personal appeal to ]. Armando Valladares was freed after 22 years. | An international campaign for his release, led by his wife Marta, culminated in ] President ] making a personal appeal to ]. Armando Valladares was freed after 22 years. | ||
| Valladares memoirs, ''Against All Hope'' |
Valladares's memoirs, ''Against All Hope'' - which details his incarceration in the Cuban ]s - became an international best-seller. On the advice of his daughter ], then ] ] (who was moved by his writings), appointed Valladares to serve as the US ambassador to the ]. As Head of the US Delegation, he successfully brought Cuba before the Commission for its ] violations. President Reagan would later confer the nation’s highest civil honor, the ]. | ||
| Valladares has addressed the ] and legislative groups in ] and the Americas. He is currently the Chairman of the Valladares Project, an international children’s rights advocacy non-profit and a member of the board of directors of the ]. | |||
| ⚫ | Valladares was one of the closest |
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| ⚫ | Valladares was one of the closest friends of ]. | ||
| ==Books== | ==Books== | ||
Revision as of 00:38, 30 May 2006
Armando Valladares was a political prisoner and prisoner of conscience in Cuba. Valladares was jailed in 1960, at age 23, when the new regime under Fidel Castro began to crack down on dissidents. He was sent to prison for refusing to place a placard on his desk at work stating that he supported Communism. Valladares spent 22 years in prison. Steadfast convictions and unbendable perseverance marked Valladares’ long imprisonment, and for that rebellion he earned the highest degree of torture - savage beatings, psychological and biological experimentation and isolaton beyond imagination.
Valladares, unlike many of his fellow political prisoners, survived the forced labor camps. He survived years of solitary confinement. Neither sunlight nor artificial light pierced the darkness of his cell where welded steel plates covered the windows and doors.
When, in 1963, Valladares’ was given a blue uniform to wear (the uniform that distinguished common criminals from political prisoners), he refused, electing to go naked until 1983.
During 22 years of confinement, Armando Valladares received 13 visits.
In spite of the inhumane treatment, the daily torture, and routine beatings designed to elicit his political rehabilitation, Valladares never wavered from his commitment, holding fast to the values and principles he cherished. He asserts even today that, "to have recanted, to have surrendered my ideals before the communists would have been spiritual suicide." Valladares’s refusal to participate in any political rehabilitation programs elicited a swift response from the government - 46 days without food. His weakened muscles relegated him to a wheelchair for 5 years.
An international campaign for his release, led by his wife Marta, culminated in French President François Mitterrand making a personal appeal to Fidel Castro. Armando Valladares was freed after 22 years.
Valladares's memoirs, Against All Hope - which details his incarceration in the Cuban gulags - became an international best-seller. On the advice of his daughter Maureen, then President Ronald Reagan (who was moved by his writings), appointed Valladares to serve as the US ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. As Head of the US Delegation, he successfully brought Cuba before the Commission for its human rights violations. President Reagan would later confer the nation’s highest civil honor, the Presidential Citizens Medal.
Valladares has addressed the United Nations General Assembly and legislative groups in Europe and the Americas. He is currently the Chairman of the Valladares Project, an international children’s rights advocacy non-profit and a member of the board of directors of the Human Rights Foundation.
Valladares was one of the closest friends of Pedro Luis Boitel.
Books
- El Corazon Con Que Vivo (1980) - a book of poetry in Spanish, published by Ediciones Universal (ISBN 0897292456)
- Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro's Gulag (2001) - an autobiographical work, published by Encounter Books (ISBN 1893554198)