Canada calls on Cuba to release political prisoners

Canada calls on Cuba to release political prisoners
AFP
Thu Feb 25, 10:39 am ET

OTTAWA (AFP) – Canada pressed the Cuban government on Thursday to
release all political prisoners and show tolerance for opposing views,
following the prison death of a leading dissident and rights activist.

"Canada is profoundly saddened by the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a
Cuban prisoner of conscience who died as a result of a hunger strike,"
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon.

"Canada regrets this tragedy and calls on the Cuban government to
release all political prisoners and to show greater tolerance for Cubans
who express opposing views," he said.

Zapata's death on Tuesday, 85 days into a hunger strike to protest
prison conditions, has sparked an international outcry.

For decades, Canada has applied soft diplomacy in a bid to sway Cuba
toward democracy, as one of only two countries in the hemisphere not to
break ties with Cuba following the 1959 Cuban revolution, despite US
pressure.

Each year, thousands of Canadians flock to the Caribbean island for
sunny vacations, including once former prime minister Pierre Trudeau who
became a personal friend of Fidel Castro.

Canada calls on Cuba to release political prisoners - Yahoo! News (25
February 2010)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100225/wl_canada_afp/cubapoliticsrightsdissidentcanada_20100225154630