Freed Cuban dissidents speak after landing in Spain

July 14, 2010 04:18


In a statement issued after they landed in Madrid, the freed men said exile was a “continuation of the struggle”.

BBC News

The Cuban government has agreed to free all 52 of the prisoners in the coming months

Seven Cuban dissidents have spoken on arriving in Spain after their release from prison in Cuba.

In a statement issued after they landed in Madrid, the freed men said exile was a “continuation of the struggle”.

They are the first of 52 political prisoners that Cuba agreed to release last week after the intercession of Spain and the Catholic Church.

They were jailed in a government crackdown in 2003 which triggered EU sanctions.

Cuba came under international pressure to free them after a jailed dissident starved himself to death earlier this year to draw attention to their plight.

‘A new stage’

One of the dissidents, Ricardo Gonzalez, said at Madrid’s Barajas airport that “change begins with freedom, not only ours and our companions, but all Cuban citizens”.

FULL STORY



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