Havana ( CNN ) -- Cuba denied on Monday that the recent death of a dissident was caused by a police beating and accused `` counterrevolutionaries '' and the foreign media of `` fabricating lies . '' Juan Wilfredo Soto died in a hospital on Sunday in the central city of Santa Clara . He had been detained by police three days earlier . Fellow dissidents accused police of beating him and causing his death . The Arnaldo Milian Hospital said he had died of pancreatitis . The state-run , Spanish-language website www.cubadebate.cu repeated those claims in an article posted on Monday night titled `` A press release from the Cuban government : Cuba denies the campaign about the death of Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia . '' According to the article , Soto died a `` natural death '' brought on by an `` acute pancreatitis . '' `` There were no internal or external signs of violence , '' the article said . According to Lizet Zamora , an anti-government activist also from Santa Clara , the police are to blame . `` We know his death was caused by the police beating , '' she told CNN by telephone . Zamora attended Soto 's funeral . According to Zamora and other dissidents , Soto was detained by police on Thursday and was beaten in public view in a park when he tried to resist arrest . She said she saw a cell phone recording of the beating . The state-run website confirmed that Soto had been detained , but said he was released `` three hours later without any incident whatsoever . '' Soto was not well-known outside of Santa Clara , but according to Zamora , he was active within the dissident community there . His funeral was held on Sunday . The article accused the foreign media , `` fundamentally from Europe and the United States , '' of amplifying lies told by dissidents . `` External and internal enemies try to distort the Cuban reality and undermine the international prestige of the Revolution and its moral strength , '' the article concluded .
Juan Wilfredo Soto died in a hospital on Sunday in central Cuban city of Santa Clara . State - run media said Soto was detained , but released three hours later without incident . Fellow dissidents said Soto was beaten by police , who caused his death . Arnaldo Milian Hospital said he had died of pancreatitis .