Oswaldo Payá

2025-10-20T17:49:51Z

2601:58A:8701:28C0:0:0:0:64C8:

{{Short description|Cuban activist (1952–2012)}}
{{good article}}
{{family name hatnote|Payá|Sardiñas|lang=Spanish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Oswaldo Payá
| image = Oswaldo Paya headshot.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1952|2|29}}
| birth_place = [[Havana]], Cuba
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2012|7|22|1952|2|29|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Bayamo]], [[Granma Province]], Cuba
| death_cause = [[Assassinated]] <ref name=":1" />
| known_for = [[Varela Project]], opposition to [[Cuban Communist Party]]
| organization = [[Christian Liberation Movement]]
| occupation = Engineer
| opponents = [[Fidel Castro]],<br />[[Raúl Castro]]
| spouse = Ofelia Acevedo
| children = 3, including [[María Payá Acevedo|Rosa María]]
| awards = [[Homo Homini Award]] (1999)<br/>[[Sakharov Prize]] (2002)
}}

'''Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas''' (29 February 1952 – 22 July 2012) was a Cuban [[Cuban dissident movement|opposition]] leader. A devout [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], he founded the [[Christian Liberation Movement]] in 1987 to oppose the one-party rule of the [[Communist Party of Cuba|Cuban Communist Party]]. He attracted international attention for organizing a petition drive known as the [[Varela Project]], in which 25,000 signatories petitioned the Cuban government to guarantee [[freedom of speech]] and [[freedom of assembly]] as well as to institute a multi-party democracy. In recognition of his work, he received the [[European Parliament]]'s [[Sakharov Prize]] and [[People in Need (Czech Republic)|People in Need]]'s [[Homo Homini Award]].

On 22 July 2012, he was killed by the Cuban Government when the State Security rammed the car he was in. <ref name=":1" /> The Cuban government stated that the driver had lost control of the vehicle and collided with a tree, while Payá's children and one of the car's passengers asserted that the car had been deliberately run off of the road. In 2023, a ruling by the [[Inter-American Commission on Human Rights|Inter-American Commission of Human Rights]] (IACHR) held the Cuban state responsible for the murder of Payá.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last1=Mega |first1=Emiliano Rodríguez |last2=Robles |first2=Frances |date=13 June 2023 |title=Cuban Government Is Responsible for Death of Dissident, Report Says |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/12/world/americas/cuba-oswaldo-paya-death.html |access-date=17 June 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Inter-American Commission Holds Cuba Responsible For The Assassination Of Pro-Democracy Leaders Oswaldo Payá And Harold Cepero |url=https://rfkhumanrights.org/press/inter-american-commission-holds-cuba-responsible-for-the-killing-of-pro-democracy-leaders-oswaldo-pay%C3%A1-and-harold-cepero |access-date=17 June 2023 |website=[[Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights]] |archive-date=17 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230617103048/https://rfkhumanrights.org/press/inter-american-commission-holds-cuba-responsible-for-the-killing-of-pro-democracy-leaders-oswaldo-pay%C3%A1-and-harold-cepero |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Early life==
Oswaldo Payá was born on 29 February 1952 in [[Cerro, Havana]].<ref name=OP>{{cite web |url=http://www.oswaldopaya.org/es/sobre-oswaldo/ |language=es |title=Acerca de Oswaldo |publisher=oswaldopaya.org |access-date=23 July 2012 |archive-date=29 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929141013/http://www.oswaldopaya.org/es/sobre-oswaldo/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The fifth of seven children, he was brought up as a [[Roman Catholic]]<ref name=LAT/> and attended a [[Marist Brothers]] school in Havana.<ref name=MH/> Payá was the only student at the school who refused to join the Communist League following the [[Cuban Revolution]].<ref name=PB>{{cite book |title=A Contemporary Cuba Reader: Reinventing the Revolution |last=Philip Brenner |year=2008 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7425-5507-5 |pages=106–09 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LjKoLe9jWKoC&q=Oswaldo+Pay%C3%A1&pg=PA106 |access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref> The school was later closed.<ref name=WP /> In 1969, he was sentenced to three years of hard labor on [[Isla de Pinos]] when he refused to transport political prisoners during his mandatory military service.<ref name=bbc23712>{{cite news|title=Top Cuba dissident Oswaldo Paya 'killed in car crash'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18949685|access-date=23 July 2012|publisher=BBC News|date=23 July 2012}}</ref><ref name=HP /> While there, he discovered a locked Catholic church, Nuestra Señora de Dolores, that received permission from the Bishop of Havana to reopen as a mission, giving religious talks and caring for the sick.<ref name=PB />

After his release, Payá enrolled in the [[University of Havana]] as a physics major, but was expelled when authorities discovered him to be a practicing Christian; he then attended night school and switched his major to telecommunications.<ref name=WP /> Payá later became an engineer and worked at a state surgical-equipment company.<ref name=LAT>{{cite web |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-oswaldo-paya-20120724,0,5477537.story |title=Oswaldo Paya dies at 60; Cuban anti-Castro activist |date=24 July 2012 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref> He was offered an opportunity to leave Cuba in the 1980 [[Mariel boatlift]], but chose to remain in Cuba and work for change.<ref name=PB /> He married Ofelia Acevedo in 1986 in a Catholic wedding.<ref name=WP /> The pair had three children: Oswaldo José, Rosa María, and Reinaldo Isaías.<ref name=HP />

==Career==
===Varela Project===
In 1987, Payá founded the [[Christian Liberation Movement]] (MCL), which called for nonviolent civil disobedience against the rule of the [[Cuban Communist Party]].<ref name=OP/><ref name=LAT/> The group advocates for civil liberties and freedom for political prisoners.<ref name=BBC237>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18963608 |title=Cuba dissident 'driven off road' to death, says family |publisher=BBC News |date=23 July 2012 |access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref> He also began a magazine for Catholics titled ''People of God'' (''Pueblo de Dios''), calling for Christians to lead the struggle for human rights. However, the magazine was shut down the following year by [[Cuba's bishops]] under government pressure. Payá attempted to run for the [[National Assembly of People's Power]] (NAPP) in 1992, but was not allowed to stand.<ref name=PB />

In the late 1990s, Payá and other MCL activists began collecting signatures for the [[Varela Project]], a petition drive that would become his best-known program. Named in honor of [[Félix Varela]], a [[Catholic priest]] who had participated in Cuba's independence struggle with Spain,<ref name=MH>{{cite web |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/22/2907342/oswaldo-paya-well-known-cuban.html |title=Oswaldo Payá, well-known Cuban dissident, killed in car crash on the island |author=Mimi Whitefield |date=23 July 2012 |work=[[Miami Herald]]|access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref> the Project took advantage of a clause in the [[Cuban Constitution]] requiring a national referendum to be held if 11,000 signatures are gathered.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/13/world/cuba-can-t-ignore-a-dissident-it-calls-insignificant.html |title=Cuba Can't Ignore a Dissident It Calls Insignificant |author=David Gonzalez |date=13 October 2002 |journal=The New York Times |access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref>

In May 2002, Payá presented NAPP with 11,020 signatures calling for a referendum on safeguarding freedom of speech and assembly,<ref name=NYT /> allowing private business ownership,<ref name=BBC1712 /> and ending one-party rule.<ref name=bbc23712 /> On 3 October 2003, he delivered an additional 14,000 signatures.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3163048.stm |title=New petition for Cuba changes |author=Stephen Gibbs |date=3 October 2003 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref> Former U.S. president [[Jimmy Carter]] endorsed the petition when granted a chance to speak on Cuban television, bringing Payá's efforts to the attention of a wide Cuban audience.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/23/world/americas/cuba-dissident-death/index.html |title=Details of crash that killed Cuban dissident disputed |author=Patrick Oppman |date=23 July 2012 |publisher=CNN|access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref> Cuban President [[Fidel Castro]] described the petition drive as a U.S.-backed conspiracy to overthrow his government.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/25341/cuban-dissident-leader-oswaldo-paya-dies-in-alleged-accident |title=Cuban dissident leader Oswaldo Paya dies in alleged accident |date=24 July 2012 |agency=[[Catholic News Agency]] |access-date=24 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109093459/http://m.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=25341 |archive-date=9 January 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', the petition drive was "the biggest nonviolent campaign to change the system the elder Castro established after the 1959 Cuban revolution", giving Payá an international reputation as a leading dissident.<ref name=LAT/> An expert described it as "the only initiative of its time that enlisted citizen participation on a large scale".<ref name=NYT>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/world/americas/oswaldo-paya-60-cuban-human-rights-fighter-dies.html |title=Oswaldo Payá, Cuban Leader of Petition Drive for Human Rights, Dies at 60 |author=Damien Cave |date=23 July 2012 |journal=The New York Times |access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref> Fellow dissident [[Rene Gomez Manzano]], on the other hand, was critical of the Project, stating that appeals to the Communist-Party-controlled NAPP were futile;<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias/2012/07/120722_americalatina_figura_oswaldo_paya_bd |language=es |title=Adiós al padre del mayor movimiento de disidencia interna en Cuba |author=Fernando Ravensburg |date=23 July 2012 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=27 July 2012}}</ref> similarly, other Cuban exiles criticized the initiative for what they considered its implicit acceptance of the legitimacy of the Castro regime and its constitution.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sánchez-Boudy|first=José|date=2005|title=El Exilio Histórico y la Fe en el Triunfo|location=Miami|publisher=Ediciones Universal}}</ref>

Later that year, Payá's efforts were recognized by the [[European Parliament]], which awarded him its [[Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought]],<ref name=NYT /> although he was nearly denied an exit visa to attend the awards ceremony.<ref name=BBC1712 /> In the months that followed, Payá met with Pope [[John Paul II]], U.S. Secretary of State [[Colin Powell]], and Mexican President [[Vicente Fox]] to discuss the cause of Cuban democratic reform.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/18/world/cuban-dissident-ends-tour-hopeful-of-democratic-reform.html |title=Cuban Dissident Ends Tour Hopeful of Democratic Reform |author=David Gonzalez |date=18 January 2003 |work= The New York Times |access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref> The Varela Project progress was blocked when the government launched its own petition drive to declare the socialist state "irrevocable".<ref name=NYT /> During the 2003 crackdown popularly known as the [[Black Spring (Cuba)|Black Spring]], MCL members comprised around 40 of the 75 defendants, though Payá himself was not arrested.<ref name=R237>{{Cite news |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/cuba-dissident-idINDEE86M0JC20120723 |title=Cuban dissidents gather to mourn Oswaldo Paya |author=Rosa Tania Valdes |date=24 July 2012 |work=[[Reuters]] |access-date=23 July 2012 |archive-date=9 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109093501/http://in.reuters.com/article/cuba-dissident-idINDEE86M0JC20120723 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Later activism===
During Castro's illness, which culminated in his 2008 resignation, Payá continued to criticize the Cuban government as it transferred power to Castro's brother [[Raúl Castro|Raúl]].<ref name=LAT /> He called on Raul Castro to allow multiparty elections and free all political prisoners,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6920080.stm |title=Cuban dissident in elections call |author=Emilio San Pedro |date=27 July 2007 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref> and delivered a petition asking that the Cuban people be granted freedom of travel.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7151710.stm |title=Cuban dissident calls for amnesty |date=19 September 2007 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref>

In the years before Payá's death, his influence was said to be waning, and attention shifted to younger activists such as blogger [[Yoani Sanchez]].<ref name=bbc23712 /> [[United States diplomatic cables leak|Leaked diplomatic cables]] from [[Jonathan D. Farrar]], head of the [[U.S. Interests Section in Havana]], described Payá and other older dissidents as "hopelessly out of touch", writing, "They have little contact with younger Cubans and, to the extent they have a message that is getting out, it does not appeal to that segment of society."<ref name=WP>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/cuban-activist-oswaldo-paya-dies-in-car-crash-fellow-dissidents-say/2012/07/22/gJQAct042W_story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724090055/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/cuban-activist-oswaldo-paya-dies-in-car-crash-fellow-dissidents-say/2012/07/22/gJQAct042W_story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 July 2012 |title=Cuban activist Oswaldo Paya dies in car crash, fellow dissidents say |date=22 July 2012 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/us-cable-cuban-opposition-out-of-touch/ |title=US cable: Cuban opposition out of touch |date=17 December 2010 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=Fox News |access-date=28 July 2012}}</ref> However, many of the younger generation of dissidents cited him as a role model and expressed grief at his death.<ref name=NYT />

==Political views==
===Opposition to United States groups and policy===
Payá refused to accept U.S. aid and also opposed the U.S. [[Cuban embargo]].<ref name=MH/> In a 2000 editorial for the ''[[Miami Herald]]'', he stated that "Lifting the embargo won't solve the problems of the Cuban people. Maintaining it is no solution, either". He called on the U.S. to immediately lift the embargo on food and medicine.<ref name="what">{{cite web |url=http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y00/ago00/14e12.htm |title=What Do Cubans Want? |author=Oswaldo Payá |date=14 August 2000 |work=Miami Herald|access-date=23 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207154530/http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y00/ago00/14e12.htm |archive-date=7 February 2012 }}</ref>

He also maintained his distance from Cuban political groups based in the U.S.<ref name=MH/> In particular, he refused to support their stated goal of land reacquisition upon the return of exiles to Cuba:
:"It is not a neoliberal programme. For this, we are under attack by the powerful groups in Miami. When people say what is going to happen in Cuba after Fidel, we say – hold on, there are 11 million people in Cuba, not only Fidel Castro."<ref name="guardian">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/aug/04/cuba.duncancampbell |title=The rocky road to change |author=Duncan Campbell |date=4 August 2006 |journal=The Guardian |access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref>

===Opposition to government cooperation===
In 2005, he also feuded with democracy activist [[Marta Beatriz Roque]], accusing her of collaborating with security forces to provide justification for a further crackdown.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4569981.stm |title=Cuba dissidents debate democracy |date=21 May 2005 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref> Although his political activity was tolerated and on a few occasions he was allowed to travel abroad, Payá reported that both he and his family were subject to routine intimidation: "I have been told that I am going to be killed before the regime is over but I am not going to run away."<ref name="guardian"/>

==Death==
[[File:Rosa Díez y Esperanza Aguirre en un homenaje a Oswaldo Payá y Harold Cepero.jpg|thumb|Spanish politicians [[Rosa Díez]] and [[Esperanza Aguirre]] at a tribute event for Payá.]]
Payá died in a car crash on 22 July 2012 at the age of 60. The incident occurred at 1:50 p.m. near [[Bayamo]] in eastern [[Granma province]], according to a statement released by the Cuban government's International Press Center. The chairman of the MCL's youth league, Harold Cepero, also died in the crash.<ref name="BBC237"/><ref name=TL/> Swedish politician and chairman of the [[Young Christian Democrats (Sweden)|Young Christian Democrats]] [[Aron Modig]] and Spanish politician [[Ángel Carromero Barrios]] were present, but survived with minor injuries.<ref name=R237 /><ref>{{cite web|author=Patrick Oppman|title=Cuban dissident dies in car accident|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/22/world/americas/cuba-dissident-death/index.html|date=23 July 2012|publisher=CNN|access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article15153774.ab |title=Var i Sverige flera gånger |date=23 July 2012 |work=Aftonbladet |language=sv |access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref> All four were taken to Professor Carlos Manuel Clinical Surgery Hospital in Bayamo, though Payá was dead on arrival.<ref name=HP/>
The car was driven by Carromero, well known in his country through his [[Ángel Carromero Barrios#Driving record as a topic of incorrect media reports|numerous but minor violations of traffic laws]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.madrid.org/boletin/CM_Orden_BOCM/2010/04/17/BOCM-20100417-4.PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227223054/http://www.madrid.org/boletin/CM_Orden_BOCM/2010/04/17/BOCM-20100417-4.PDF |archive-date=27 December 2013 |title=III Administración Local |access-date=11 November 2016 }}</ref>
In late February 2014, the High Court of Spain upheld the decision of Judge Eloy Velasco, taken in September 2013, not to accept the complaint filed by the family of Oswaldo Payá against two senior Cuban military officers for the death of Payá. Carromero went on trial in Cuba, where he was convicted of non-planned murder.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

At a press conference arranged by Cuban authorities on 30 July, Modig and Carromero stated that the crash was an accident and no other car was involved.<ref name=SvD>{{cite news |url=http://www.svd.se/nyheter/utrikes/modig-kan-lamna-kuba_7384262.svd |title=Modig kan lämna kuba |language=sv |date=30 July 2012 |work=Svenska Dagbladet |access-date=17 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chron.com/news/article/Survivors-No-2nd-car-in-deadly-Cuba-car-crash-3746718.php |title=Survivors: No 2nd car in deadly Cuba car crash |author=Andrea Rodriquez |agency=Associated Press |date=30 July 2012 |work=Houston Chronicle |access-date=30 July 2012}}{{dead link|date=April 2013}}</ref> Speaking in 2013 to the ''[[Washington Post]]'', Carromero denied this version of events, stating that he had been drugged and threatened by Cuban authorities who had forced him to make a false statement. He stated instead that the car had been rammed by another vehicle with Cuban government license plates, causing the fatal crash.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-34352065.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109093500/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-34352065.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 January 2016 |title=An eyewitness to Oswaldo Paya's death speaks out; The accident that killed Oswaldo Paya must be investigated and the truth exposed. |date=5 March 2013 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=12 April 2013}}</ref>

Payá's daughter Rosa María stated that her father died after the rental car in which he was traveling was rammed several times by another car.<ref name=G237 /> Payá's son Oswaldo added that his father had received numerous death threats and stated that the accident's survivors had reported that the car had been deliberately driven off the road.<ref name=BBC237 /><ref name=BBC257 /> The official statement by the Cuban government stated that the driver lost control of the vehicle and collided with a tree.<ref name=BBC237 /><ref name=TL>{{cite web|title=Swedish youth politician injured in Cuba car crash|url=http://www.thelocal.se/42174/20120723/|date=23 July 2012 |work=The Local|access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref> The MCL stated that "the circumstances of these deaths have not been cleared up and are open to hypothesis" and demanded a "transparent" inquiry into the accident.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/23/2908436/cuban-dissidents-call-for-transparent.html |title=Cuban dissidents call for 'transparent' investigation of Oswaldo Payá's death |author=Mimi Whitefield |date=23 July 2012 |work=Miami Herald|access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref> On 27 July, the Cuban Interior Ministry forwarded an official report to foreign press, blaming driver error and quoting Carromero as saying that the car had skidded off the road due to poor road conditions and bad weather.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19022749 |title=Cuba: Oswaldo Paya's accident caused by 'driver error' |publisher=BBC News |date=27 July 2012 |access-date=27 July 2012}}</ref> Payá's widow rejected the report, stating that the crash was not an accident and that a government report could not be trusted.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19033145 |title=Cuba: Wife of Oswaldo Paya says crash was no 'accident' |publisher=BBC News |date=28 July 2012 |access-date=29 July 2012}}</ref>

U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] released a statement praising Payá as "a tireless champion for greater civic and human rights in Cuba". [[U.S. Senator]] [[Marco Rubio]] and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] presidential candidate [[Mitt Romney]] called for an independent investigation into the crash, imploring the international community to "demand that the facts concerning Paya's death be accurately determined and that the surviving witnesses be protected".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/07/23/romney-joins-call-for-transparent-investigation-into-oswaldo-payas-death/ |title=Romney Joins Call for Transparent Investigation into Oswaldo Paya's Death |agency=Associated Press |date=23 July 2012 |publisher=Fox News Latino |access-date=23 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725090606/http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/07/23/romney-joins-call-for-transparent-investigation-into-oswaldo-payas-death/ |archive-date=25 July 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[European Union]] issued a statement recognizing Payá's dedication "to the cause of democracy and human rights in Cuba".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/cuban-dissidents-foreign-governments-mourn-activist-paya-after-deadly-car-crash/2012/07/23/gJQAc4Hj4W_story.html |title=Cuban dissidents, foreign governments mourn activist Paya after deadly car crash |agency=Associated Press |date=23 July 2012 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=23 July 2012 |archive-date=24 July 2012 |archive-url=http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/20120724002156/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/cuban-dissidents-foreign-governments-mourn-activist-paya-after-deadly-car-crash/2012/07/23/gJQAc4Hj4W_story.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Elizardo Sanchez]], president of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights, stated that "This is tragic for the family and the human rights and pro-democracy movement in Cuba ... Payá was considered the most notable political leader of the Cuban opposition."<ref name=G237>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/23/oswaldo-paya-death-no-accident |title=Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá's death 'no accident', claims daughter |author=Jonathan Watts |date=23 July 2012 |journal=The Guardian |access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref> [[Ladies in White]] president [[Berta Soler]] described the death as "a terrible blow".<ref name=R237 />

Payá's funeral was held on 24 July 2012. Dissident groups reported that dozens of activists were arrested on their way to the funeral,<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/24/world/americas/cuba-dissident-funeral/index.html |title=Dozens reported arrested on way to Cuban dissident's funeral |date=24 July 2012 |publisher=CNN|access-date=24 July 2012}}</ref> including [[Félix Navarro Rodríguez]] and [[Guillermo Fariñas]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/cuba-dozens-arrested-funeral-prominent-rights-activist-2012-07-25 |title=Cuba: Dozens arrested at funeral of prominent rights activist |date=25 July 2012 |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=25 July 2012}}</ref> A scuffle also broke out between activists and state security agents at the funeral itself. [[Amnesty International]] and the U.S. criticized the arrests, with the [[White House]] describing them as "a stark demonstration of the climate of repression in Cuba."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-amnesty-critical-cuban-dissident-detentions-16854622#.UBA6vrSe7gU |title=US, Amnesty Critical of Cuban Dissident Detentions |agency=Associated Press |date=25 July 2012 |publisher=ABC News |access-date=25 July 2012}}</ref> The dissidents arrested in Payá's funerals were freed the following day.<ref name=BBC257>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18990351 |title=Police free Cubans detained at Oswaldo Paya's funeral |publisher=BBC News |date=25 July 2012 |access-date=25 July 2012}}</ref>

In June 2023, the [[Inter-American Commission on Human Rights|Inter-American Commission of Human Rights]] (IACHR) ruled that the Cuban state was responsible for the murder of Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero, concluding that "there were serious and sufficient indications to conclude that State agents directly participated in the deaths of Payá and Cepero", as well as responsible for violations of the due process right to and judicial guarantees of Ángel Carromero.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Oswaldo Payá's daughter Rosa Maria has continued his activism for democratic reforms in Cuba.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-34501726.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109093500/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-34501726.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 January 2016 |title=Oswaldo Paya's fight for a democratic Cuba lives on; Daughter of activist carries his message forward. |date=10 April 2013 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=12 April 2013}}</ref>

==Awards and recognition==
* The [[Homo Homini Award]] of [[People in Need (Czech Republic)|People in Need]], a Czech NGO, 1999<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clovekvtisni.cz/index2en.php?id=549 |title=Previous Recipients of the Homo Homini Award |publisher=People in Need |access-date=17 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501192644/http://www.clovekvtisni.cz/index2en.php?id=549 |archive-date=1 May 2011 }}</ref>
* The [[Sakharov Prize]] for Freedom of Thought of the [[European Parliament]], 2002<ref name=BBC1712>{{cite web |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2583201.stm |title=Cuban dissident collects EU prize |date=17 December 2002 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref>
* [[W. Averell Harriman]] Democracy Award from [[National Democratic Institute for International Affairs|U.S. National Democratic Institute for International Affairs]], 2003<ref name=HP/>
* Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from [[Columbia University]] in New York, 2005<ref name=HP>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yoani-sanchez/cuban-opposition-leader-o_b_1693991.html |title=Cuban Opposition Leader Oswaldo Payá Dies in Car Crash |author=Yoani Sanchez |date=23 July 2012 |work=HuffPost |access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref>
* Nominated for the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] by the former Czech President [[Václav Havel]], with fellow Cuban dissidents [[Raul Rivero]] and [[Óscar Elías Biscet]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icdcprague.org/index.php?id=311&news=165 |title=2005 Nobel Peace Prize nomination for Payá, Rivero and Biscet |date=1 January 2005 |author=Roisin Joyce |publisher=International Committee for Democracy in Cuba |access-date=23 July 2012}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Cuba}}
*[[Heinrich Maier]]
*[[Grigoris Lambrakis]], Greek democratic activist who was assassinated in 1963 in the [[Kingdom of Greece]] (''present-day [[Greece]]'')
*[[Christian Democracy]]
*[[Censorship in Cuba]]
*[[Human rights in Cuba]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.oswaldopaya.org Official website]

{{Footer Homo Homini Award laureates}}
{{Sakharov Prize 2001-2025}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Paya, Oswaldo}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:Cuban democracy activists]]
[[Category:Cuban dissidents]]
[[Category:Cuban human rights activists]]
[[Category:Cuban Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Nonviolence advocates]]
[[Category:Opposition to Fidel Castro]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in Cuba]]
[[Category:Cuban anti-abortion activists]]
[[Category:Cuban anti-communists]]
[[Category:Sakharov Prize laureates]]
[[Category:20th-century Cuban people]]

Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Oswaldo Payá