Jan Bednar, one of two activists in the Czech Republic who launched a hunger strike to oppose U.S. missile-defense radar based in his country, has gone into liver failure but will still continue his hunger strike. He needs all our prayers and good wishes. He began his hunger strike with Jan Tamas, pictured at left, who many of us in Colorado met. (The original post identified Tamas as the one with liver failure, the result of a miscommunication I had.)Tamas came to the U.S. in April and impressed many people with his good humor and dedication. I am concerned about how fasts unto death are waged. Occasionally, as in the case of Mapuche activist Patricia Troncoso in Chile, a government responds when a hunger striker is hospitalized. But all too often, particularly when the U.S. government is involved, a hunger striker can die and the parties in charge simply don't care. Let's all wish the best for Jan Bednar and Jan Tamas, and we all need to sign the Czech petition to bar the radar base from Czech soil.
