Imprisoned Cuban dissident wins prestigious literary prize.

Byline: Nancy San Martin

MIAMI _ Cuban author Raul Rivero's words have brought him respect from the literary world, and a 20-year prison sentence from the Cuban government.

``People prepare their trips ... in a fatal effervescence,'' he wrote of Cubans fleeing aboard rafts and decrepit boats. ``Those who don't believe in death invest all their fears into a risky voyage so they can later live without fear.''

Passages like those earned the poet and journalist the prestigious World Press Freedom prize from the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to be awarded Monday at a ceremony in Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro.

But Rivero, a once heavy-set 58-year-old with a shock of white hair and the insistent manner of an advocate of democracy, won't be there to receive the prize.

He was among 75 dissidents, including some 30 journalists, swept up last year in Cuba's harshest crackdown on dissent in years. He was charged with working with U.S. diplomats in Havana to subvert Cuba's socialist system.

After short, closed-door trials, Rivero was sentenced to 20 years for ``treason,'' while the others received prison terms ranging from six to 28 years. He is confined in a maximum security facility in Ciego de Avila in central Cuba.