NEWS STORY: Cuba delivers on papal request to free prisoners

c. 1998 Religion News Service VATICAN CITY _ Cuban President Fidel Castro on Thursday (Feb. 12) delivered on a request made by Pope John Paul II, releasing”several dozen”political prisoners and promising to free as many as 200 more. The action was announced at the Vatican and confirmed at a Havana news conference by Foreign Ministry […]

c. 1998 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY _ Cuban President Fidel Castro on Thursday (Feb. 12) delivered on a request made by Pope John Paul II, releasing”several dozen”political prisoners and promising to free as many as 200 more.

The action was announced at the Vatican and confirmed at a Havana news conference by Foreign Ministry spokesman Alejandor Gonzalez, who told reporters the releases were”justified from a humanitarian view, for reasons of age, health or other similar circumstances.” The pardons followed the clemency of seven prisoners on Wednesday, and are the first tangible results of the pope’s five-day pilgrimage to the communist island last month.


Cuba called the pardons an”act of clemency and of good will in memory of the (Jan. 21-25 papal) visit.” The Vatican praised the move but stopped short of showering Castro with accolades. There was no immediate reaction from the Clinton administration.

The Vatican said Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, who was the pope’s intermediary in the effort, was”pleased about the relevant provision, which represents a concrete prospect of hope for the future of that noble nation.” Sodano turned over a list of dissidents to Cuban authorities on Jan. 22, compiled from family members of prisoners and human rights groups.

In Cuba, relatives of the imprisoned dissidents said they were waiting to find out who was being released. Neither the Vatican nor the Cuban government released any names in making the announcement.

Before Thursday’s action, an estimated 400 political prisoners were behind bars, according to independent human rights groups.

During his visit to Cuba, the pope made an impassioned appeal for freeing the dissidents, urging the government to release”prisoners of conscience.”He also said political opponents of the regime should be permitted to stay in Cuba and not be ousted from the country as in previous cases.

Castro’s decision to release dissidents could improve his image as a leader willing to tolerate political opposition. But it is far from certain that the aging communist will loosen the ban on non-communist parties to participate in politics or allow his political enemies a platform.

Moreover, his critics say he could resort to jailing some of the freed dissidents once the glare of the international media is no longer focused on him.


Gonzalez, at his Havana news conference, said the Cuban government, in reviewing Sodano’s compilation of names, found it had already released 106 of those on the list.”Several dozen more soon will be put at liberty through a pardon,”he said.”In addition, it was decided to pardon a number greater than 200, taking into account the petition of Cardinal Sodano for clemency for some other people not included on the list,”Gonzalez said.

In winning the release of prisoners, the pope has scored a victory of his own in a country where only 5 percent of the population professes to be Roman Catholic.

In addition to the freeing of dissidents and others, the pope has urged Cuba to permit the reopening of Catholic schools, which were closed some 40 years ago, after the revolution. He has also sought more freedoms for the church and other religions.

DEA END HEILBRONNER

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