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.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their