HAVANA, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Cuban dissident Wilman Villar has died after a 50-day hunger strike, officials say.
Villar, 31, died late Thursday in the Juan Bruno Zayas de Santiago hospital in Cuba. The hunger strike was in protest of a four-year prison sentence imposed for taking part in a demonstration.
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The Miami Herald reported Friday Villar was regarded as a martyr for the opposition movement as well as a defender of individual liberties and human rights.
Villar was kept alive on a respirator for several days before he succumbed to sepsis. Doctors told his family "only a miracle" could save his life.
Villar's wife, Maritza Pelegrino, said authorities would not permit her to see her husband's body.
