Cuba Releases Last 2 Dissidents From Group Of 75

Cuban President Raúl Castro. Photo by Trinidad-News.com

Today in Latin America

Top Story — The Cuban government freed the last two remaining prisoners on Wednesday from a group of 75 dissidents who were jailed in the spring of 2003.

Both men had been sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of undermining the Revolution.

The release of José Ferrer and Félix Navarro came as part of a deal mediated by Cuba’s Catholic Church this summer to free those remaining from the 2003 crackdown. The Cuban government released most of them — including a number of prisoners unrelated to the Group of 75, who were convicted of crimes involving violence — into Spanish exile.

Ferrer and Navarro intend to stay in Cuba and both men hinted they would continue to advocate for a transition to democracy on the island through peaceful means. “The fight now  will be with greater vehemence, but also greater maturity,” Navarro told Reuters. “I want to see a free people, and the best place to fight is here inside,” said Ferrer.

The Cuban government calls the dissidents common criminals and accuses them them of destabilizing the government on behalf of Washington. Human rights watchdog Amnesty International classified the Group of 75 as prisoners of conscience.

“It is a step in the right direction for human rights in Cuba to see the release of all prisoners of conscience from the March 2003 crackdown,” said Gerardo Ducos of Amnesty International in a press statement. “Particularly considering they should have never been imprisoned in the first place.”

The releases began last year as Washington sought reciprocal concessions from the Raúl Castro government for President Barack Obama’s decision to permit unrestricted family travel to the island and loosen controls on remittances. But the jailing and sentencing to 15 years of U.S. Aid contractor Alan Gross on charges of undermining Cuban sovereignty make a further opening of U.S.-Cuban relations unlikely in the near future, notwithstanding the completion of the releases of the Group of 75.

Headlines from the Western Hemisphere

North America

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• Authorities in Mexico detained detained an in-law of the Sinaloa Cartel’s top drug lord, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who allegedly ran a transnational drug operation that reached as far as Ecuador.
• Federal and local law enforcement agencies in Northern Virginia arrested over 130 undocumented immigrants with prior convictions in a three-day sweep.

Caribbean

• Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuno said the U.S. territory’s $1 billion budget gap will be closed in two fiscal years

Central America

• A four-year-old Long Island girl was deported after authorities detained her grandfather when their flight was diverted to Washington following a visit to Guatemala.

Andes

• The U.S. is still hopeful that a deal can be reached with Colombia ensuring the enforcement of labor rights.
• Peru’s once staid presidential race has turned into an unpredictable five-way contest that is rattling local financial markets as front-runner Alejandro Toledo plunges in polls.

Southern Cone

• Bolivian President Evo Morales said Wednesday that Bolivia would sue Chile for access to the sea that it lost over 130 years ago in the War of the Pacific.
• President Obama’s pledge to help Brazil develop its offshore oil reserves last weekend garnered criticism from American lawmakers and oil executives who said he should focus on U.S. offshore exploration first.
• Brazil’s sports minister asked Congress to help expedite the bidding process for construction work for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

Image: Trinidad-News.com @ Flickr.

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