Cuba promises to release 52 political prisoners by Barbora Misakova

Cuba – country with the only one-party communist regime – informed it will release 52 dissidents. Are you surprised? Well, you are not alone! In a breakthrough church-state deal Cuba set to yield the biggest prisoner release since President Raul Castro formally took the reins of power in 2008. The talks were led by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, who said this move will open “a new era” in communist Cuba. “We are quite satisfied. A new ear is opening in Cuba, with the will to settle once and for all the political prisoner issue.” he said optimistically. While Moratinos is full of praise for Raul Castro’s decision, o! thers Cubans are skeptical. Even though leading Cuban dissident Guillermo Ferinas ended a 135-day hunger strike after the communist government said it would free more than 50 prisoners, he is still a suspicious. “I am skeptical. Until our brothers are on the street, we do not trust the authorities.” said 48-year-old psychologist and online journalist Farinas by phone. Neither Laura Pollan, a leader of the Ladies in White group of family members of the political prisoners, is sure if the government holds to its promise. “I am stunned – we were expecting 10, 12 maybe 15 to be freed and then maybe in six months some more. I will believe it when I see all 75 out on the street.” she said. As Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida’s congressman, has said, we should be careful about what Cuban government says and do and we shouldn’t trust its promises boundlessly.

related story (sgx17815): http://www.france24.com/en/20100707-cuba-52-political-prison...

by Barbora Misakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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