THE CUBAN government has begun releasing jailed dissidents in a political concession, brokered by the Catholic church, that could ease the way towards a gradual thawing of relations with the US.
Raul Castro’s regime agreed last week to free 52 activists once viewed as enemies of Fidel Castro’s revolution – almost one-third of the 167 inmates classified as political prisoners by the independent Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation. At least 17 are set to go to Spain to live in exile.
The families of several prisoners were told on Saturday that their relatives had been released.
The wives of dissidents Pablo Pacheco and Luis Milan were phoned by fellow inmates. Barbara Rojo, the wife of Omar Ruíz, told the Associated Press: “They [Cuban officials] called me to tell me to get ready to leave, because they would be around to get us.”
A fourth prisoner, José Paneque, called his family to tell them he was being moved to Havana.
Meanwhile, there was a reminder that the old guard endures, as pictures emerged of Fidel Castro out in public for the first time in four years. Looking frail but animated, the ailing 83-year-old retired dictator was snapped smiling and chatting with staff during a visit to the National Centre for Scientific Investigation in Havana. – ( Guardianservice)