The BBC reports:

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.

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