Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom

Guillermo Fariñas is a political dissident in Cuba. His fight against communism started during his career as a clinical psychologist in Camajuani, Cuba. He was expelled from the Young Communist League, of which he had been a part of since the early 80s, for opposing the execution of Ornaldo Ochoa Sánchez—a prominent Cuban general that was killed by Castro Regime. In 1995, Fariñas found himself imprisoned for false crimes and accusations of possessing fire arms.  During his confinement, he undertook a hunger strike. In total, Fariñas conducted 23 hunger strikes while serving a total of eleven years in Cuban jails as a political prisoner. He has stated that he was willing to die in prison, from hunger, in his fight against the censorship of the Cuban Government. Among many honors, Fariñas has received the European Union’s 2010 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. He has also received the International Human Rights Award at Weimar, and was awarded the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom in 2015.