Guillermo Fariñas, editor of Cuba's Cubanacán Press independent news agency, has told president Fidel Castro he'll starve himself to death unless he and fellow journalists are allowed the Net access they need for their work.

Fariñas has had neither food nor water since noon on January 31.

He told Reporters Without Borders, "I want all Cuban citizens to have the right to an Internet connection, but also for the independent press to be able to report on the government’s activities, and if I must be a martyr for Internet access, so be it."

In an open letter to Castro, he points out that the overwhelming majority of Cubans have no Internet access.

Cubanacán Press reporters had been able to send dispatches from a public Net access centre in Santa Clara, says RWB. But that stopped on January 31.

Cubanacán Press concentrates on covering human rights violations in Cuba and on reflecting viewpoints that are excluded from the official media.