Gustavo Arcos

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Gustavo Arcos Bergnes (December 19, 1926 – August 8, 2006) was a fellow Cuban revolutionary alongside Fidel Castro who later became an imprisoned dissident of the government. Arcos has been described as "a symbol of the opposition, and the dean of the opposition".^[1]

Born in the small town of Caibarien, Arcos met Castro while the two attended law school at the University of Havana. He participated in the 1953 attack on Moncada Barracks that jumpstarted the Cuban Revolution against then-leader Fulgencio Batista, where he suffered a gunshot wound to the hip that left him partially paralyzed.

Freed under a pardon, Arcos spent the next several years gathering support, money, and munitions throughout Mexico, South America, and the United States. Following the success of the revolution in 1959, Arcos became Cuba's ambassador to Belgium. However, while Arcos was away, he grew disillusioned both by Cuba's alliance with the Soviet Union, and the dictatorial tactics of Fidel Castro.

Upon his return, he began expressing dissent against Castro and the Cuban government. In response, he was imprisoned for three years as a counterrevolutionary. He attempted to leave the country, but was refused, and he spent the rest of his life trying to improve human rights in Cuba, most notably as the executive director of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights, which he helped found in 1978.

A subsequent illegal attempt to leave the country put Arcos in jail again in 1981. He was released later that year, imprisoned again from 1982 to 1988, and continued to promote human rights and participate in the international community's efforts to improve conditions in Cuba.

Arcos died on August 8, 2006 after an illness. He was 79.