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Cuba to release some political prisoners
MEXICO CITY -- The Cuban government will free 52 political prisoners, Catholic officials in Havana said Wednesday, the largest release of captive dissidents in decades. The scheduled release of those arrested in a March 2003 crackdown against pro-democracy activists on the island was brokered by the country's archbishop, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, with help from visiting Spanish diplomats.Ortega met this week with Cuban President Raúl Castro, brother of the country's ailing dictator. The Cuban government had nothing to say about the release, and human rights activists were cautious in their response to the church's announcement. "This is significant, and good news, from the point of view of the prisoners and their families," Elizardo Sanchez, head of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights, said by telephone from Havana. "But it is a political decision of the Cuban government, taken for short-term political motives, to have an immediate effect overseas, not in Cuba itself." look for Hillary or Obama to imply they should get the credit for this-- even though it clearly catches them by surprise Posted by: lord garth 2010-07-08 |
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