Cuban dissidents say prominent govt opponent Oswaldo Paya dies in car crash

HAVANA – Cuban dissidents say prominent fellow government opponent Oswaldo Paya has died in a car crash. He was 60 years old.

Dissident Elizardo Sanchez says he confirmed Paya’s death on Sunday with associates in the city of Bayamo, 500 miles (800 kilometres) east of the capital.

Paya’s passing was also the talk of tweeters and bloggers.

At Paya’s home in Havana, a woman who answered the door said there had been an accident but they were awaiting details. It was not immediately clear why Paya was in Bayamo.

Paya, a journalist, gained international fame in the 1990s as the organizer of the Varela Project, which gathered signatures to urge authorities to change the constitution to allow multiple political parties and private enterprise.