A leading Cuban dissident on Thursday ended a 135-day hunger strike after the government said it would free more than 50 political prisoners, raising hopes for improved international ties.
“This confrontation ... has no winners or losers, only Cuba, our nation, has won,” Guillermo Farinas said in a statement presented by his supporters through a hospital window in the city of Santa Clara.
PHOTO: AFP
The frail psychologist has been in intensive care since suffering a hypoglycemic shock two weeks after beginning his protest at the end of February, a day after another dissident, Orlando Zapata, died following an 85-day hunger strike.
Cuba late on Wednesday agreed to free 52 political prisoners in a surprise church-state deal promising the biggest such release since Cuban President Raul Castro formally took power in 2008.
Foreign observers lauded the announcement, with some, including the US and Spain, providing offers of asylum.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the step was overdue but “a positive sign,” and many in Europe welcomed the move while calling for the release of all political prisoners.
Farinas had said he would not end his strike until at least five political prisoners were released, having dropped his original demand for 25 to be freed once church mediation was under way.
The first five prisoners, all males aged from 33 to 60, could leave for Spain in the coming days, said the Catholic Church in a statement on Thursday.
Another six were due to be relocated to prisons in their home provinces and those remaining were to be freed within the next three to four months.
The 52 were among 75 dissidents rounded up in 2003 and sentenced to jail terms of six to 28 years.
Talks between Cardinal Jaime Ortega and Castro also involved Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, who said the pending move ushered in “a new era.”
Moratinos said Castro, during their six-hour meeting, had assured him that the exiles and their relatives would be able to return to visit Cuba and that the property of dissidents who leave the country would not be confiscated — measures that would imply a change in Cuban policy.
Cuban’s state-controlled newspapers on Thursday included the announcement of the planned releases, without saying they were political prisoners.
The Church began a dialogue with Havana on May 19. As a result of the talks, one prisoner has been released and another 12 were transferred nearer their families.
US-based Human Rights Watch welcomed the promised releases but warned that more political prisoners could be put in jail.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of