( CNN ) -- A Cuban prisoner who went on hunger strike to protest his arrest for taking part in a demonstration died Thursday , according to other dissidents in the country . Wilmar Villar Mendoza , 31 , died in a hospital in Santiago after his kidneys and other organs failed , said Yoani Sanchez , a prominent Cuban blogger and advocate of press freedom in the country . Sanchez said she had spoken with Villar Mendoza 's widow , Maritza , by telephone . His death comes at an awkward time for President Raul Castro 's government : another prisoner died after going on a hunger strike earlier this month , and Pope Benedict is due to visit Cuba in the coming months . A Cuban court sentenced Villar Mendoza to four years in prison in November , Sanchez said , a sentence he said he felt was unjust . Villar Mendoza started his hunger strike following his sentencing , halting it briefly in December when the authorities said they would listen to his demand for his case to be reconsidered , Sanchez said . Villar Mendoza 's death was confirmed by the wife of another dissident and by the head of an opposition research organization inside Cuba , who could not be identified for security reasons . It happened just weeks after the death of another hunger striker , Rene Cobas , who began his protest because he was not part of the government 's recent mass pardon . Cobas died of a heart attack on January 1 after authorities at the Boniato Prison , near Santiago , disregarded a doctor 's recommendation that he be moved to a provincial hospital , according to Elizardo Sanchez , who heads the island 's independent Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation . Cobas had gone on strike immediately after the president announced the latest round of amnesty on December 23 . Cobas called the pardons `` exclusive and limited , '' Sanchez said . The decision to release 2,900 prisoners followed `` numerous requests '' from their family members and religious institutions , and was a humanitarian gesture , Castro said last month . He cited the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict as one of the motivations behind the move , which he said showed the `` generosity and strength of the revolution . '' The pope has said he plans to visit Mexico and Cuba before Easter . Among those were to be freed were prisoners over the age of 60 , along with those who were sick , female or young with no previous criminal record . With some exceptions , prisoners convicted of spying , terrorism , murder and drug trafficking would not be released . In 2010 , Castro agreed to free 52 prisoners who had been arrested during a 2003 crackdown on political dissidents . That pardon was prompted by the death of a jailed dissident , Orlando Zapata Tamayo , following an 80-day hunger strike protesting inmate conditions . CNN 's Catherine Shoichet contributed to this report .
A prisoner on hunger strike dies of organ failure , other Cuban dissidents say . His hunger strike was in protest to his arrest for taking part in a demonstration . A court sentenced him to November in prison in four years . The death comes as the pope plans to visit Santiago before Wilmar Villar Mendoza .