Showing posts with label International press. Show all posts
Showing posts with label International press. Show all posts
Alberto de la Cruz at Babalublog reports on his phone conversation with Reina Luisa Tamayo. She sent a message to the world:
For the past two Sundays the Cuban government has not allowed me or my family and supporters to attend church or to visit the cemetery where my son, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, is buried. The government has sent people to carry out acts of repudiation. They have pushed and shoved us, beaten us. Both my legs have been injured by the physical attacks I have endured. We only want to be able to go to church and to pay our respects at the grave of my son, Orlando Zapata Tamayo. They, however, will not let us.(H/T Capitol Hill Cubans)
For five months my house has been surrounded by state security. The government has ordered people to harass and repress us. They have brought weapons with them -- clubs and knives. These people wait until uniformed security agents are watching to push and beat us with the hopes that it will curry favor for them from the government. They hope by doing the bidding of the Castro brothers, the government will overlook how they steal from their workplaces and trade on the black market. The government will not overlook their actions because it a government of assassins!
We have been beaten along with fellow members of the opposition that have stood next to me. My son has been beaten over the head and his back. But we will not give up, we will not kneel to the Castro brothers.
The news media has done nothing to help us. The Catholic Church has done nothing to help us. Cardinal Jaime Ortega has never tried to contact me and has done nothing to stop the beatings we are receiving for only wanting to to go church and visit the grave of my son.
This Sunday, at 8:30 am, I, along with my family and supporters, will once again leave the house and attempt to go to church and visit my son's grave. Whatever happens to any us, I hold the Cuban government responsible!
Dear Sir or Madam:
We write to you worried about the police and paramilitary harassment denounced from Banes ―a small town in the Cuban province of Holguín― by Reina Luisa Tamayo. She is the mother of Orlando Zapata Tamayo the prisoner of conscience who died on 23 February after a prolonged hunger strike that up to its tragic and fatal outcome had little coverage in the international press.
Every Sunday, we receive, mostly through phone interviews broadcast by the US-based Radio Martí, the same report from Reina Luisa describing how she is beaten, insulted and how [the government directed mob] prevents her from going to the town’s church to pray for her son and the health of all Cuban political prisoners still in jail. The repressive organs of the Cuban regime also impede her to visit her son’s tomb.
It is surprising to us that despite the wide coverage dedicated to Cuban topics, your organization has not reported on this. We know of the limitations to movement within Cuba, but we also understand that any foreign reporter has the means and resources to travel to the Eastern part of the island and give an eyewitness report of what happens there, in front of Reina Luisa Tamayo’s home.
We do not wish to tell the media what they should do, but to share with you our concern for the life of a woman who has lost her son in unjust circumstances and is clamoring for the world’s help to avoid more deaths.
We, the promoters of the #OZT: I accuse the Cuban government Campaign that demands the unconditional and immediate release of all peaceful political prisoners in Cuba and the respect of all Cubans’ human rights; write to you because we know that the international press in Cuba not only bears witness to what happens there, but can also help prevent and stop harassment incidents like those suffered by the Ladies in White in March of this year.
We would also like to know if there is any kind of legal hindrance or of any other sort that prevents your reporter in La Habana from traveling to other regions of Cuba.
We thank you in advance for your reply.
Sincerely,
#OZT: I accuse the Cuban government Campaign
Every Sunday, we receive, mostly through phone interviews broadcast by the US-based Radio Martí, the same report from Reina Luisa describing how she is beaten, insulted and how [the government directed mob] prevents her from going to the town’s church to pray for her son and the health of all Cuban political prisoners still in jail. The repressive organs of the Cuban regime also impede her to visit her son’s tomb.
It is surprising to us that despite the wide coverage dedicated to Cuban topics, your organization has not reported on this. We know of the limitations to movement within Cuba, but we also understand that any foreign reporter has the means and resources to travel to the Eastern part of the island and give an eyewitness report of what happens there, in front of Reina Luisa Tamayo’s home.
We do not wish to tell the media what they should do, but to share with you our concern for the life of a woman who has lost her son in unjust circumstances and is clamoring for the world’s help to avoid more deaths.
We, the promoters of the #OZT: I accuse the Cuban government Campaign that demands the unconditional and immediate release of all peaceful political prisoners in Cuba and the respect of all Cubans’ human rights; write to you because we know that the international press in Cuba not only bears witness to what happens there, but can also help prevent and stop harassment incidents like those suffered by the Ladies in White in March of this year.
We would also like to know if there is any kind of legal hindrance or of any other sort that prevents your reporter in La Habana from traveling to other regions of Cuba.
We thank you in advance for your reply.
Sincerely,
#OZT: I accuse the Cuban government Campaign
Video from Al-Jazeera:
Cuban blogger Claudia Cadelo, informs through Twitter that Guillermo Fariñas has been discharged from hospital, and is at home.
There were no details on his current condition, but we will update the post as soon we obtain further them.
UPDATE: Italian news agency ANSA informs in Spanish details his discharge from hospital. It states that Fariñas will have to use a wheelchair due to a neuropathy caused by his 135 day long hunger strike (his 23rd) and that he still suffers from a clot in one of his carotids that will take years to treat.
The opposition activist told the reporter that because of his motor limitations, he will continue his work as an independent journalist from his home.
We are happy to see Fariñas out of hospital, albeit not completely healthy. We will monitor his situation, and wish him a speedy recovery. And, we are most grateful to this great Cuban for his fearless fight, for risking his own life for the release of Cuban political prisoners.
Regime says that will free more political prisoners, and allow them to stay in Cuba
posted on Tuesday, July 20, 2010Radio Netherlands reports:
Cuba is prepared to set free more political prisoners than the 52 whose release was announced earlier this month. Those who are freed may, if they wish, remain in the country. The announcement was made by Ricardo Alarcón, the President of the Cuban parliament, on Tuesday.
The Cuban regime decided, earlier in July and after mediation by the Roman Catholic Church, to release 52 opponents of the country’s government. The 52 belonged to a group of 75 individuals sentenced in 2003 to terms in jail of between six and 28 years. According to figures from Cuban dissidents, there would still be 115 political prisoners in Cuba following the release of the 52.
At least 11 dissidents have already emigrated to Spain. Nine others will depart later this week. Those who agreed to go into exile in Spain were the first to be set free. Church officials have stressed that emigrating from Cuba was an offer, not a condition for the release
It is part of the biggest release of political prisoners since 1998, when 300 dissidents were spared jail time following a visit by then-pope John Paul II.
Agence France Press reports:
HAVANA — The US diplomatic mission in Cuba has convened a meeting here with relatives of political prisoners who are refusing an offer to leave and emigrate to Spain, wives of the jailed dissidents told AFP.
Representatives of the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish embassy were also to attend the 1:00 pm (1700 GMT) meeting with officials from US consular services and the mission's refugee section, they said.
"All we know is that they have invited a representative of each prisoner who has not been contacted by the church or who have refused to travel to Spain," said Laura Pollan, the head of the Ladies in White, a group of wives of political prisoners.
So far, 11 political prisoners have emigrated to Spain and another nine were expected to arrive in Madrid this week as part of Cuba's biggest release of political prisoners in over a decade.
MADRID — Spain's Foreign Minister says nine more Cuban political prisoners will fly to freedom in Madrid this week along with around 50 of their relatives.
Miguel Angel Moratinos says the freed dissidents would arrive Tuesday to join 11 others recently released and now in Spain.
The liberation of 20 Cuban dissidents to Spain is part of a commitment made by the Castro regime to release 52 opponents imprisoned since 2003 under an agreement reached with the Spanish government and Catholic Church. Moratinos did not identify the prisoners but said all were traveling of their own free will. He asked that Spaniards and Cubans show understanding.
Moratinos was speaking during a visit to Kazakhstan in an interview broadcast on Cadena Ser's website Sunday.
Released political prisoners vow to fight on for the freedom of Cuba
posted on Friday, July 16, 2010
The BBC has published this morning a report on the various statements given to the media during press conferences by the released political prisoners exiled to Spain by the Cuban regime.
The article quotes them describing the conditions on which they were kept, the abuses they suffered in prison, and the lasting consequences of their unjust imprisonment:
They denounced their forced exile, and that although released from jail, their sentences are still in effect, and they could be imprisoned should they ever be able to return to Cuba (something for which the regime has said they will need a permit):
The opposition activists warned the EU and the rest of the international community against being too optimistic and seeing the move by the regime as a sign of change:
Entire article with more pictures at the link.
The article quotes them describing the conditions on which they were kept, the abuses they suffered in prison, and the lasting consequences of their unjust imprisonment:
[…]here in Spain, the former prisoners have been giving disturbing details of their years behind bars.
"I spent 18 months in solitary confinement," Lester Gonzalez told the BBC, showing a court paper which detailed his 20-year prison sentence.
"[I was] in the dark, with my hands tied; with rats and cockroaches and excrement everywhere. That was all I could smell."
[…]they've described crowded and filthy prison cells where they were denied drinking water for days; often, the only food was "giraffe soup" - so watery, the prisoner stretched his neck searching for some kind of nutritional content.
"I went into prison weighing 86kg, now I'm 48kg," said Jose Luis Garcia Paneque, one of several men now suffering serious medical complaints.
"That's the effect of my prison time: chronic illness for rest of my life," explained Mr Garcia Paneque, now a shrunken figure with hollow cheeks.
[…]The men, who were held with ordinary Cuban criminals, recounted how prisoners routinely inflicted serious injuries upon themselves to get even basic medical attention from prison staff.
In one case, they said a man jabbed needles in his eyes but was left unattended for two days.
They denounced their forced exile, and that although released from jail, their sentences are still in effect, and they could be imprisoned should they ever be able to return to Cuba (something for which the regime has said they will need a permit):
"The Cuban government has been categorical: we have to get permission to return to the place we were born in," said Julio Cesar Galvez, who describes his arrival in Spain as deportation.
"We are not free. We are not immigrants here. Quite simply, we are refugees."
Cuban Church officials say 20 prisoners have agreed to come to Spain. As their criminal convictions have not been overturned, they say exile was the only option.
"If I leave prison, but I can't work to support my family, that's not freedom," explained Mr Galvez, who was sentenced to 15 years for his work as an independent journalist.
"If I'm still harassed, if they follow us, listen to our phone calls and want to know where we're going and what we're doing - we're not free," he said.
The opposition activists warned the EU and the rest of the international community against being too optimistic and seeing the move by the regime as a sign of change:
[…]the former prisoners say it would be "unacceptable" to see their release as proof that the Cuban government's approach to human rights has improved.
"Real improvement would mean new laws, no more repression or arrests of human rights activists," one said, adding that included his own right to return home without fear of prison again.
Another mentioned freedom of speech, and a third called the government's move a "smoke-screen" ahead of an EU review of its common position on Cuba this autumn.
Entire article with more pictures at the link.
Former Cuban political prisoners have said their release does not signal a change in political conditions on the Communist-run island.
Nine dissidents arrived earlier this week in Spain under the terms of an agreement brokered with the help of the Catholic church in Cuba.
Normando Hernandez, one of the former prisoners, said Havana's motives should not be misunderstood.
He said that "Cuba is not opening up to democracy."
"I personally think it is a trick by the Cuban government. The economic needs on the island are huge. The social situation is critical, the political stagnation.
"This is why it is important to draw the international communities attention to this aspect of the Cuban government so they don't get fooled again," the dissident told the BBC in Madrid.
Mr Hernandez was imprisoned in 2003 allegedly for organising an independent college of journalism in Cuba.
He told the BBC that his health had been badly damaged by poor food and sanitary conditions during his seven years in jail.
More at the link.
(H/T Marc Masferrer)
Cuba's decision to release 52 political prisoners Havana does not signal any shift in the communist regime's hold over the island, US analysts said Tuesday.
Havana's release of seven of the dissidents to Spain Monday, ahead of four more expected transfers in the coming days, came as former Cuba leader Fidel Castro's gave his first television interview in almost a year, a move that analysts said was to distract the population of the one-party state.
Castro's appearance "contradicts those who thought there might be a change underway in Cuba, or a move towards closer, better relations with the United States," Jaime Suchlicki, director of the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami, told AFP.
"Nothing has changed in Cuba" following the dissidents' release, he said, adding that while President Raul Castro was handling day-to-day leadership in the country, "the important decisions, especially in foreign policy" were still being made in consultation with his older brother, Fidel.
Some observers have seen the releases as signalling a shift away from decades of hardline policy by Fidel and Raul, but critics have been quick to shoot down such a possibility.
The previous large-scale release of prisoners came in 1998, following a visit by then-pope John Paul II, with 300 dissidents spared jail time by a presidential pardon. Experts point out that that move was not followed by any large-scale lifting of oppressive measures since then, as hoped at the time.
The releases to Spain "do not imply a change in the repressive regime," insisted Angel De Fana, Miami-based director of the group Plantados of former Cuban political prisoners.
"These people are forced to leave because if they wanted to stay in Cuba, they would remain under a totalitarian regime and go back to being incarcerated."
The purpose of Fidel's TV appearance, according to Cuba expert Uva de Aragon at Florida International University, "was to distract attention from the release of the political prisoners."
After previous releases of dissidents, noted de Aragon, an associate director at Florida's Cuban Research Institute, "nothing changed, as other prisoners are taken."
Cuba agreed to gradually free 52 political prisoners -- the biggest gesture of its kind in a decade -- in a surprise deal between the Roman Catholic Church after a hunger strike to near-death by dissident Guillermo Farinas.
And according to the Cuban Human Rights and National Reconciliation Commission, even after all the 52 inmates are released, there will still be 115 political prisoners held in Cuba, the only one-party Communist system in the Americas, where censorship is enforced with an iron fist.
US officials have said the release of political prisoners is a necessary step before the two governments can improve their often strained relations, with a decades-long US trade embargo still in place.
The Cuban government, however, which consistently skirts the issue in its official media outlets, still denies holding any political prisoners, saying they are mercenaries in the pay of the United States.
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Four more political prisoners who are among the 52 who Cuba has authorised to leave the country will arrive in Spain over the next two days, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said yesterday.
"Another four are due to arrive," he told parliament just hours after seven other Cuban dissidents and 33 of their close family members arrived in Madrid.
A foreign ministry spokesman identified the four who will arrive over the next two days as Omar Rodriguez, Normando Hernandez Gonzalez, Luis Milan and Mijail Barzaga.
Cuba agreed last Wednesday to gradually free 52 political prisoners -- the biggest gesture of its kind in a decade -- in a surprise deal between the Roman Catholic Church after a hunger strike to near-death by dissident Guillermo Farinas.
"The scenario which is emerging in Cuba... reveals a new desire on the part of the Cuban government... to wrap up the release of political prisoners... and advance with social and economic reforms," Moratinos added.
According to Cuban dissidents, there will still be 115 political prisoners in Cuba, the only one-party Communist regime in the Americas, even after all the 52 dissidents are released.
Spain, which helped broker the deal between the Cuban government and the Church, has said it is willing to receive all of the prisoners after their release.
Church officials have said that so far, 20 of the 52 had agreed to leave Cuba, a former Spanish colony, for Spain.
The first dissidents released by the Cuban authorities as part of a deal to free 52 in total worked as journalists or campaigned for political reforms.
They were arrested in 2003, during what became known as the Black Spring. Some 75 activists were jailed during the crackdown.
Like many Cuban dissidents, the prisoners were adopted by human and media rights groups like PEN, Reporters without Borders and Amnesty International.
Keeping in touch with the prisoners' families and friends, these organisations compiled what little information was to be had about the men locked up in various prisons around the country.
The seven dissidents flown to Spain are:
Ricardo Gonzalez
Journalist Ricardo Gonzalez worked for the independent news agency Cuba Press and was Cuba correspondent for the media rights group Reporters Without Borders.
He also edited the independent fortnightly magazine De Cuba and was one of the founders of the Manuel Marquez Sterling Association in May 2001, an organisation that trains independent journalists.
Mr Gonzalez was arrested in March 2003 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for "being in the pay of the United States" and "undermining Cuba's independence and territorial integrity."
He was jailed in Havana's Combinado del Este prison and has suffered from various health problems, including a heart condition.
In 2008 the media rights group named Mr Gonzalez Reporter of the Year, praising his efforts to help "an independent press survive in Cuba". He turned 60 in February.
Lester Gonzalez Penton
At 26, Lester Gonzalez was the youngest of the dissidents detained in Cuba in March 2003.
The independent journalist was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and sent to a jail in Santa Clara.
To protest against poor prison conditions Mr Gonzalez went on hunger strike several times, Pen reported.
He had to undergo a hernia operation in 2008 and suffered from chronic gastritis and other health problems, Pen said.
Julio Cesar Galvez
65-year-old Julio Cesar Galvez was one of the journalists, writers and librarians arrested in 2003.
Having worked for official Cuban media organisations for 24 years, he became an independent journalist in 2001.
Mr Galvez was jailed for 15 years and locked up in Havana's Combinado del Este prison, where he suffered from respiratory problems and other ailments, Pen reported.
In 2009 his wife, Irene Viera Silloy, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that her husband was allowed one family visit every two months.
She also said that Mr Galvez continued to write in prison.
Pablo Pacheco Avila
Pablo Pacheco Avila is an independent journalist who worked for two independent news agencies. After his arrest in March 2003 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Pen believes that the 40-year-old's health problems in Moron prison in Ciego de Avila are believed to have included acute gastritis and severe headaches.
In 2009 the dissident received special recognition for his work as a journalist under threat at Amnesty International's Media Awards.
Jose Luis Garcia Paneque
Originally a plastic surgeon, Jose Luis Paneque is said to have been sacked because of his political views. He then became an independent journalist and librarian.
Mr Garcia Paneque was sentenced to 24 years in prison after his arrest in 2003.
The 44-year-old is said to have acute stomach problems, chronic pneumonia and a kidney tumour.
His wife and children reportedly left Cuba for Texas in June 2007 after being harassed by the Cuban authorities.
Omar Moises Ruiz Hernandez
Omar Moises Ruiz Hernandez worked for two independent Cuban news agencies before he was arrested in March 2003 and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
He was also involved in the official Partido Solidaridad Democratica (Democratic Solidarity Party).
Human rights organisations believe that he has been treated badly in Nieves Morejon prison in Guayos and had to spent time in solitary confinement and punishment cells.
Like many of the other dissident prisoners, the 62-year-old is said to suffer from various illnesses, including pneumonia.
Antonio Villarreal
The 59-year-old economist and librarian Antonio Villarreal was involved in the Varela Project, a petition asking for a national referendum on political changes in Cuba.
Mr Villarreal was sentenced to 15 years in prison after his arrest in March 2003.
He is believed to have been in bad health during at least some of his imprisonment in Villa Clara province.
CNA: First 11 freed Cuban [political] prisoners to arrive in Spain on Tuesday
posted on Monday, July 12, 2010Catholic News Agency reports:
Havana, Cuba, Jul 12, 2010 / 02:42 pm (CNA).- Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Miguel Angel Moratinos, who was in Cuba in recent days, said Monday that the first 11 political prisoners to be freed will arrive in Spain on July 13 on two separate flights.
The first flight operated by Air Europa will land at 1 p.m., and the second operated by Iberia, will touch down an hour later. Both flights will depart from Havana on Monday evening.
Moratinos said the 11 prisoners will arrive in Spain accompanied by their families, all together totaling some 65 people.
Upon arrival, the freed Cubans will have to decide where they wish to live, whether in Spain or elsewhere, but “of course they will have the support and assistance of the Spanish government,” Moratinos stated.
In this sense, he explained that through entities such as the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid and the Spanish Red Cross, logistical support will be given to the Cubans, so that they can secure a place to live. Once the political prisoners are “free citizens they shall enjoy all of their rights,” Moratinos said.
The first group of dissidents freed by the Cuban government is set to arrive in Madrid on a scheduled flight on Tuesday, Spanish officials say.
It was still not clear how many would be on the first flight, an official at the Spanish foreign ministry said.
Last week, the Cuban government, the Catholic Church and the visiting Spanish foreign minister agreed a deal to secure the release of 52 dissidents.
Cuba's ex-leader Fidel Castro will be on TV on Monday, official media say.
The official Communist Party newspaper, Granma, said Fidel Castro would appear on television and radio in the evening to discuss his concerns about the Middle East.
Mr Castro has not been seen in public since July 2006 when he had emergency surgery.
Photographs emerged at the weekend showing the 83-year-old former president smiling and greeting workers.
The images were published as the Cuban government began steps to release the first dissidents.
The authorities have gathered several political prisoners and their families at separate locations in Havana.
A Spanish foreign ministry official in Madrid said the first freed prisoners were expected to take a scheduled flight from Cuba on Monday evening.
Over the coming days, 17 freed dissidents are expected in Spain.
On Sunday, a dissident group known as the Ladies in White staged its weekly march calling for the release of their relatives.
Protests continue
There were slightly fewer protesters than usual as some had been taken to a government facility before going to the airport to join their husbands on a flight to Spain.
The prisoner release, which could become the biggest this decade on the communist-ruled island, was announced last Wednesday.
Under the agreement, 52 political prisoners will eventually be freed.
All were part of a group of 75 dissidents rounded up in 2003 and sentenced to jail terms of between six and 28 years.
Leader of the Ladies in White Laura Pollan said their marches would continue.
"While there is one political prisoner or prisoner of conscience, there will be Ladies in White," said Ms Pollan.
"This is what we pledged from the beginning and the Ladies will keep that promise."
Cuba has always denied that it has political prisoners, calling them mercenaries paid by the US to undermine Havana's rule.
Spain's ABC newspaper: Laura Pollán: "As long as there is one political prisoner and of conscience, there will be Ladies in White"
posted on Sunday, July 11, 2010The Ladies in White, the group of women relatives of the 75 Cuban opposition activists imprisoned during the repressive wave of the spring of 2003 (Cuba’s Black Spring), stated today they will continue [to be] active while there is one political prisoner in the island.
Laura Pollán, spokesperson for the women’s group told journalists that “as long as there is one political prisoner and of conscience, there will be Ladies in White. That was our promise from the beginning, and we the Ladies will keep that word.”
Some 40 wives, mothers and other relatives [of the political prisoners] attended Mass at the [Catholic] Church of Saint Rita de Cassia, in La Habana. Later, they marched, and then prayed kneeling in front of the temple as a thanksgiving for the release of the political prisoners.
Regarding the current situation of some of the 52 [remaining] prisoners whose release and trip to Spain alongside their relatives has been announced by the Catholic Church this week, Pollán stated that 20 out of the 26 asked yesterday, are willing to leave the country, and six “have stated that no, that they will stay in their motherland.”
According to Pollán, this morning, they telephoned some of the prisoners that have been transferred to the Combinado del Este prison (in La Habana) where there are already 11 (of the ones slotted to travel to Spain), and were told that some of their relatives are at a military institute near the “Valle Grande” prison doing travel paperwork.
“This is real, and it feels us with hope because at least half are already being processed [to travel], [but] I cannot say what will happen with the last (prisoner).”
Among the political prisoners asked [about their willingness to leave the country] are Jesús Mustafá, from Santiago de Cuba, José Daniel Ferrer, Pedro Argüelles, Regis Iglesias, Eduardo díaz Fleitas and Arnaldo Ramos
The Ladies in White’s leader stated that she does not know “what will happen with them, if they will be imprisoned until the last minute or will be released in the upcoming days, but at least we have the hope that they are all going to be freed.”
Regarding the legal status of the released prisoners, Pollán said that “neither the Church, nor the government have said anything to us, we cannot say (…) if it is a [forced] exile for them, although it has been said that their relatives can return, and they will be able to preserve their properties.”
The government of Raúl Castro has promised to free gradually, and in a four-month long timeframe to release 52 political prisoners, within the context of a dialog opened with the Catholic Church hierarchy in the island, a process supported by Spain that will receive all the [prisoners] from this group that wish to travel to that country.
These 52 oppositionists are the ones that remain in prison from the “Group of 75” that were sentenced to [anywhere] between 6 and 28 years [in prison].”
The Cuban Catholic Church said on Saturday that out of those 52, it will be 17 the first ones to be freed, and travel to Spain.
On that topic, Pollán said that the Archbishop of La Habana, the principal interlocutor in the dialog between the Church and the government, has not spoken to the Ladies since 2 July.
However, she said that the group “has some questions, and it would be interesting” to be able to speak with him so that he can transmit them to the government and they can be answered.
In Pollán’s opinión, what has happened until now “is a good beginning” that “windows are being opened” and their only request is that after their relatives are released “they don’t put others in [jail].”
This article appeared originally in Spanish. This is our translation.
Laura Pollán, spokesperson for the women’s group told journalists that “as long as there is one political prisoner and of conscience, there will be Ladies in White. That was our promise from the beginning, and we the Ladies will keep that word.”
Some 40 wives, mothers and other relatives [of the political prisoners] attended Mass at the [Catholic] Church of Saint Rita de Cassia, in La Habana. Later, they marched, and then prayed kneeling in front of the temple as a thanksgiving for the release of the political prisoners.
Regarding the current situation of some of the 52 [remaining] prisoners whose release and trip to Spain alongside their relatives has been announced by the Catholic Church this week, Pollán stated that 20 out of the 26 asked yesterday, are willing to leave the country, and six “have stated that no, that they will stay in their motherland.”
According to Pollán, this morning, they telephoned some of the prisoners that have been transferred to the Combinado del Este prison (in La Habana) where there are already 11 (of the ones slotted to travel to Spain), and were told that some of their relatives are at a military institute near the “Valle Grande” prison doing travel paperwork.
“This is real, and it feels us with hope because at least half are already being processed [to travel], [but] I cannot say what will happen with the last (prisoner).”
Among the political prisoners asked [about their willingness to leave the country] are Jesús Mustafá, from Santiago de Cuba, José Daniel Ferrer, Pedro Argüelles, Regis Iglesias, Eduardo díaz Fleitas and Arnaldo Ramos
The Ladies in White’s leader stated that she does not know “what will happen with them, if they will be imprisoned until the last minute or will be released in the upcoming days, but at least we have the hope that they are all going to be freed.”
Regarding the legal status of the released prisoners, Pollán said that “neither the Church, nor the government have said anything to us, we cannot say (…) if it is a [forced] exile for them, although it has been said that their relatives can return, and they will be able to preserve their properties.”
The government of Raúl Castro has promised to free gradually, and in a four-month long timeframe to release 52 political prisoners, within the context of a dialog opened with the Catholic Church hierarchy in the island, a process supported by Spain that will receive all the [prisoners] from this group that wish to travel to that country.
These 52 oppositionists are the ones that remain in prison from the “Group of 75” that were sentenced to [anywhere] between 6 and 28 years [in prison].”
The Cuban Catholic Church said on Saturday that out of those 52, it will be 17 the first ones to be freed, and travel to Spain.
On that topic, Pollán said that the Archbishop of La Habana, the principal interlocutor in the dialog between the Church and the government, has not spoken to the Ladies since 2 July.
However, she said that the group “has some questions, and it would be interesting” to be able to speak with him so that he can transmit them to the government and they can be answered.
In Pollán’s opinión, what has happened until now “is a good beginning” that “windows are being opened” and their only request is that after their relatives are released “they don’t put others in [jail].”
This article appeared originally in Spanish. This is our translation.
HAVANA, Cuba — Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas on Thursday ended his 135-day hunger strike after the communist government announced it would free 52 political prisoners, an opposition leader told AFP.
"Fariñas has from this moment stopped the hunger strike," Gisela Delgado told AFP, after visiting him in hospital in the central city of Santa Clara.
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