'Fighting for freedom'

"I'm fighting for freedom," said Raduel Martinez Gomez, 25, who got a boxload of pamphlets, books and other materials from the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, the country's diplomatic seat absent full relations.

Sitting only two short blocks from Gonzalez's home, Martinez described how he grabbed two fistfuls of fliers and walked the bumpy, potholed streets of Zamora for six hours distributing them.

When the police passed, he tucked them under his armpits or into his back pockets and waistband and continued.

Sometimes he hands the fliers directly to people. Some residents call him a gusano, worm, or escoria, scum. Others thank him and ask for more.

He said the pamphlets probably won't bring an end to Castro's government, but it makes him feel good to distribute them.

"If they throw them out or don't read them, what can I do?" he asked. "I do it because I feel like I have to do it."




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