Wife of Cuban prisoner: husband told he'll go free
By ANNE-MARIE GARCIA
Associated Press
HAVANA -- The wife of one of 13 remaining Cuban dissidents jailed since
2003 says a state security official has indicated the men will be freed
within a month, the first sign the government still plans to release
them since letting a church-negotiated deadline pass.
The official visited Diosdado Gonzalez at the Combinado del Sur jail in
Matanzas on Tuesday and gave him the news, his wife Alejandrina Garcia
told The Associated Press on Friday.
"He told him that they would be freed, and that the government's word
had not been broken," Garcia said. "He said that in 15 to 30 days they
would release the 13."
Gonzalez, a 48-year-old electrician, is serving a 20-year sentence for
treason and other charges. He was among the activists, social
commentators and opposition figures rounded up in a 2003 crackdown
against peaceful dissent.
Cuban President Raul Castro agreed to release the men during a July 7
sit down with Havana's Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega and
then-Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos. The church said
the deal called for all 52 of the remaining prisoners to be released
within 4 months, a period that ended Sunday with no word on their fate.
The government has had no comment on the passing of the deadline, or on
whether it still plans to free the prisoners.
Cuba has released 39 of the dissidents, sending them into exile in Spain
along with their families. The remaining 13, including Gonzalez, have
refused to leave the island, a direct challenge to a government that
would prefer they take their views elsewhere.
Some of the men have told their families they plan to resume their calls
for democracy as soon as they are out of jail.
Garcia said her husband was told he and the other men would be allowed
to return to their homes in Cuba. She said her husband was given
permission to call her with the news after his meeting with the security
official, who identified himself only as "Irvin."
"He was very hopeful," she said of her husband. "Now, if the government
was lying and my husband is not out in 30 days, he will no longer
believe in anyone."
Laura Pollan, a leader of the Ladies in White, or Damas de Blanco, which
is made up of the wives and mothers of the jailed dissidents, told AP
she had met in recent days with church officials and functionaries at
the Spanish Embassy in Havana.
She said they told her they had heard nothing more from the government
on the men's fate, but urged her to be patient.
"They told us to wait a few days. They said the agreement has not been
broken and the process of liberation will continue, even though the
deadline has passed," she said.
Associated Press reporter Paul Haven contributed to this report.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/12/1922339/wife-of-cuban-prisoner-husband.html
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