Cuba to free two prisoners, Catholic church says

Friday, December 24, 2010

HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — Cuba is to release two prisoners, the archbishop of Havana said yesterday, though the men are not among 11 high-profile prisoners slated to be freed under a deal between the government and Roman Catholic Church.

Under the informal agreement, the government of President Raul Castro is to free 52 peaceful dissidents jailed in 2003.

Forty-one have been released so far but 11 are still behind bars, and there has been speculation about whether the government would release them before Christmas.

Orlando Marquez, spokesman for the Havana archbishop, said Miguel Angel Vidal Guadarrama and Hector Larroque Rego are to be released "shortly" and will be sent to Spain. Yesterday's brief statement did not provide any further details about the men or their convictions.

Both appear on a list of people jailed for committing crimes against Cuban state security compiled by Elizardo Sanchez, who heads the Havana-based Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation. According to the Commission's list, both Larroque and Vidal were convicted of violent acts against state security.

Vidal was convicted on terror charges in 2003 and sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to the Commission. Arrested in 2000, Larroque was convicted on charges including robbery, illegally possessing arms and piracy and handed a 22-year prison sentence.

"We are still very worried because the government is freeing people by drips and drabs," Sanchez told the AP in a telephone interview. "Also, they're freeing those who used force while peaceful prisoners remain in jail."

The 52 prisoners named in the government's deal with the church are among 75 activists, social commentators and opposition leaders jailed following a 2003 crackdown. None committed acts of violence.

The agreement was announced following a July 7 meeting between Castro, Havana's Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega and then-Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.

It wasn't clear whether the agreement stipulated that the prisoners would be required to move to Spain in exchange for their release, but all but one of the 41 freed so far are now living there.

Those still behind bars have said they want to remain in Cuba — a demand widely interpreted as a stumbling block to their release.

Ortega has continued to insist the government intends to make good on the deal — even after the informal November 7 deadline for the prisoners' release came and went.