Americas News
Oldest Cuban dissident Arcos dead at 79
By DPA
Aug 9, 2006, 19:00 GMT

Havana - Gustavo Arcos Bergnes, known as the oldest living Cuban dissident, died Tuesday at age 79.

Arcos Bergnes, who headed the Cuban Committee for Human Rights (CCPDH), died of a heart attack in hospital, opposition sources said.

Arcos Bergnes, who was from a central Cuban province, was one of the early revolutionary fighters who fought alongside Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who turns 80 on Sunday. Castro has temporarily passed power to his brother while he recovers from an intestinal problem.

From Castro's revolutionary takeover in 1959 until 1964, Arcos Bergnes was Cuba's ambassador to Belgium. He resigned over differences with the Cuban leadership.

In 1978, he founded CCPDH along with his brother Sebastian. The group is considered the oldest dissident group on the Caribbean island, which is the last remaining communist country in the western hemisphere.