The jailed Cuban journalist Calixto Ramón Martínez reported he has suffered from a series of high fevers since Jan. 2 and hasn't received medical attention as of Jan. 5, according to the news agency Hablemos Press, for which Martínez works.
Martínez, 42, is being held in Combinado del Este prison since Sep. 16 after investigating the loss of medications donated by the World Health Organization to Cuba that were left out over night by authorities and expired. Previously, in a series of articles on a dengue and cholera epidemic on the island, Martínez also denounced the saturation of health centers, the lack of information coming from the authorities on the topic and the falsification of diagnoses, according to We Fight Censorship.
In November, Martínez started a hunger strike to protest against the treatment he was receiving in jail. Hablemos Press, has created a Facebook page to request signatures calling for his release. Martínez is accused of contempt toward President Raúl Castro and his brother Fidel, but there still isn't a date for his trial, according to website Cuba Encuentro.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
