It's doubtful it would have gotten a harsher sentence here, too, unfortunately.
He should have been handed an opportunity to fast handed to him which was beyond his discretion.
~~~~~November 11, 2010 / machetera
The inconvenient truth about Guillermo Fariñas
http://media.naplesnews.com.nyud.net:8090/media/img/photos/2010/11/12/20101112vs_LA_CubaFarina_t607.jpg~snip~
In 2002 in the city of Santa Clara, in the province of Las Villas, Fariñas assaulted an old man with a cane. The old man, severely injured, was rushed to the hospital where he underwent surgery to remove his spleen. After this crime, Fariñas was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in prison. He again carried out a hunger strike and on December 5, 2003, was granted an early release for health reasons. 7
~snip~
But Guillermo Fariñas really became a media sensation as of February 24, 2010, when he began a hunger strike at his home that lasted until July 8, 2010, to demand the freeing of those he identifies as “prisoners of opinion”, in reference to those opposition figures sentenced for accepting financing from the United States.11 Indeed, in this regard, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), an agency of the federal government, admits that it finances the Cuban opposition. According to USAID, the amount of assistance destined to the Cuban dissidents increased to $15.62 million in fiscal year 2009. “The vast majority of this money is intended for individuals on the ground in Cuba. Our objective is to maximize the amount of support that benefits Cubans on the island.”12
The government organization also emphasizes the following point: “We have trained hundreds of journalists over a ten year period whose work has appeared in major international news outlets.” This admission destroys the statements about the independent nature of opposition journalists in Cuba. Trained and financed by the United States, these journalists respond first and foremost to the interests of Washington, whose objective is, as official State Department documents state, “regime change” on the island.13
From a legal point of view, this reality places those dissidents who accept the inducements offered by USAID in the position of agents in the service of a foreign power, which represents a grave violation of not just the Cuban penal code, but that of any country in the world. Questioned about this, the Agency limited itself to pointing out that “no one is required to accept or take part in any United States Government programs if they don’t want to.”14
More:
http://machetera.wordpress.com/