Cuban dissident's wife lies in coma at Tampa hospital

Noted Cuban dissident Jorge Luis Gonzalez Tanquero was released in July after serving a seven-year term in a Cuban prison and part of what kept him going was one day being reunited with his wife, Marlenes. At his urging, she and the couple's daughter, Melissa, left the country and moved to Tampa.

But a month before the release, Marlenes Gonzalez Conesa suffered a massive stroke and remains in a coma. The situation resulted in an expedited process to get him admitted to the United States and he arrived two weeks ago.

Over that time, he has visited his stricken wife every day. She is unable to speak or communicate; the dream of a reunion dashed.

The last time he saw her was before his 2003 arrest. His crime: presiding over the Carlos Manuel Cespedes Movement that challenged the Cuban regime's policies.

As Gonzalez Tanquero languished in Las Mangas prison in western Cuba, his wife continued her fight against communism in her homeland from her new home in the United States. Three years ago, Gonzalez Conesa and Melissa met with then President George W. Bush in the White House. Bush recognized her husband as a political prisoner.

But, in June, Gonzalez Conesa's struggle changed from opposing Castro and freeing her husband to drawing breaths.

Though Gonzalez Tanquero was released from prison a month after his wife's stroke, he was exiled to Spain. There, he began the process of entering the United States to be with his family. He was allowed entry to the United States on Feb. 11 and has been visiting his stricken wife in the Town & Country Hospital every day.

A spokeswoman for the hospital did not return a telephone call for comment.

The outlook is grim, said Tampa attorney Ralph Fernandez, who is helping the family at no charge. His first task is to arrange for insurance to cover the woman, whose long-term care hinges on that, he said.

She had worked for a Tampa business and had been covered on a health insurance policy though her work. Fernandez's firm and the hospital had shared her health insurance premium costs, but for some reason, the insurance had begun denying coverage two weeks ago. Attorneys for Fernandez's firm were looking into that this week.

Gonzalez Conesa is a member of the Ladies in White, a group of women in Cuba opposed to the communist regime, Fernandez said. Prior to the prison sentence, the two Cubans worked together in opposition to the communist regime.

When he was imprisoned eight years ago, it was the last time he saw his wife healthy. Seeing her again was part of what kept him going.

"It was a dream of coming together that was shattered," he said through an interpreter in a recent interview. "God didn't see it that way and we have to accept it."

He is cautiously optimistic, but knows the seriousness of the situation, he said. Still, there is some hope.

Fernandez is helping the family because Gonzalez Tanquero is a modern day hero to many Cubans opposed to the Castro regime.

"It's an obligation," he said. "It's a privilege as well for me to be afforded this opportunity."

He said he plans to mount a fundraising campaign so that Gonzalez Conesa can get the proper care and he hopes to invite former President George W. Bush attend one such event in the future.

"This is a really moving story with a really unhappy ending," Fernandez said. "We are going to see if American generosity can change the course of this family's story."

He's worried about Melissa, the teenage daughter.

"This little girl had a mother and no father," Fernandez said, "and now she has a father and no mother."

He said he will stir support among Cuban-Americans, particularly those opposed to Castro's rule. Already, he said among Cuban-Americans in Tampa, he has mustered some support.

"I'm going to make sure every Cuban-American in the country is aware that a Lady in White needs them" he said, "and likewise they need her."