The Committee for Free Trade Unionism (CFTU) welcomes the efforts of Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino to obtain the release of at least some of the political dissidents the Castro regime has imprisoned for many years.
According to the government of Spain, about 23 formerly imprisoned Cuban dissidents and their families have arrived in that European country.
Among those known to have been released is Dr. Jose Luis Garcia Paneque, who is suffering from a malabsorption syndrome acquired while in a Cuban prison.
Not Open to Democracy
One former prisoner, in an interview with the BBC, said Havana’s motives should not be misunderstood. “Cuba is not opening up to democracy,” he declared. “I personally think it is a trick by the Cuban government,” the former prisoner said. “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,” he said.
The Cuban government has yet to acknowledge publicly details of the releases, or why the release of additional imprisoned dissidents, including all of the 10 free trade unionists listed on our website under the header, Prisoners, apparently will be spread out over many months. Three of the 10 reportedly have been exiled to Spain: Adolfo Fernández Sainz, Luis Milán Fernández, and Blas Giraldo Reyes.
The 10 free trade unionists were sentenced to up to 26 years each, even though they did not commit any crimes. They were guilty only of expressing the universally recognized right to join and form free and independent labor unions.
Crimes Only in Cuba
In addition to the dissidents who may be released in the coming months, there are approximately 200 other Cubans in prison for crimes that are not criminal offenses in most of the civilized world. Cubans are jailed for non-crimes, such as “dangerousness,” which includes the possession of banned books, including George Orwell’s Animal Farm, or for speaking in support of sanctions against Havana by the European Union or the United States.
Interestingly, the Castro government is releasing only those prisoners who agree to live in exile in another country. In other words, the government still cannot tolerate dissent. As the formerly imprisoned leave, they will take their families with them, including wives who are active in the Ladies in White, the opposition movement in Cuba that consists of spouses and other female relatives of the jailed dissidents.
Contrast the Castro government’s release to exile with conditions with the behavior of the despised former dictator of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista, who, at the urging of Monsignor Jaime Pérez Serantes, released all political prisoners, including Fidel and Raúl Castro, and allowed them to stay in their native country and re-establish themselves into civil society.
The CFTU calls on the international community to continue pressing the Cuban regime to release all political prisoners without conditions. The Cuban government should allow the International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, to visit the island and meet with the prisoners of conscience, their families, and other dissidents.