YouTube appearance earns jail

HAVANA. A Cuban appeals court on Thursday upheld a two-year prison sentence for a Havana man who was jailed last month after he appeared in a widely viewed YouTube video shouting there was hunger in Cuba. In a hearing closed to the press, Juan Carlos Gonzalez Marcos, known as "Panfilo", asked that his sentence for the crime of "dangerousness" be reduced, but a panel of judges refused the request.

Exiles opposed to communist rule in Cuba have started an Internet campaign calling for Gonzalez's release.

They say Gonzalez's jailing is an example of how Cuba's government quashes discontent and dissent among the population. In the video, Gonzalez can be seen jumping into the frame, pushing away a person being interviewed about reggaeton and waving his arms. "What we need here is a little bit of 'jama,'" he shouts, using a Cuban slang word for food. "We need food, we're hungry here. Listen to what Panfilo tells you from Cuba: food".