Cuba frees eight more political prisoners, dissidents say

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Cuba frees eight more political prisoners, dissidents say

BY DANIEL WALLIS AND ROSA TANIA VALDÉS
HAVANA Thu Jan 8, 2015 4:25pm EST

(Reuters) - Cuba has freed eight more detainees, dissidents said on Thursday, as Havana begins to release 53 people the United States considers political prisoners as part of an agreement aimed at ending decades of hostility between the two nations.

Including three detainees released on Wednesday, 11 prisoners have been liberated over the past 24 hours, political opposition groups on the communist-led island said. All but three of them are members of the dissident Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU).

Havana's commitment to free the 53 prisoners was a major part of a historic deal announced last month under which the two governments agreed to renew diplomatic relations after more than 50 years.

Like the detainees released on Wednesday, those freed on Thursday had been accused of relatively minor offenses.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/08/us-cuba-usa-prisoners-idUSKBN0KH1I720150108

[Mika]

1. How could Patriotic Union of Cuba exist? I thought there was only one party in Cuba.

At least, that's what some of the "experts" here tell me over and over.

[Judi Lynn]

2. The world is so full of mystery, isn't it? I'm sure our propagandists would never lie to us!

You'd think it would occur to some of them to simply take time to start THINKING about what they have heard, what they have read, and start testing it by researching. Intelligent people would feel compelled to do the research long enough to get to the truth.

They don't seem to expect to evolve much as adults.

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[Oele]

3. UNPACU is not a political party.

It is "a civil organization that advocates the peaceful but determined struggle against any repression of civil liberties on the island of Cuba" that was founded 4 years ago.

According to Amnesty International, "its members have suffered constant harassment and intimidation, including arbitrary arrests by the authorities".

http://www.unpacu.org/acerca-de/sobre-unpacu/
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uni%C3%B3n_Patri%C3%B3tica_de_Cuba

[Mika]

5. Founded in Miami.

http://www.unpacu.org/tag/miami/

[Judi Lynn]

6. After seeing your post, I remembered Cambio Cubano, started by Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo.

We learned of that years ago, when he decided to stay in Cuba during a trip he and his wife took there from Miami, while she opted to return to Miami.

The U.S. railed at him for years, as we know. Absolutely ridiculous, and certainly underreported by the US media.

Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo threatened by US for living in Cuba
Posted February 09, 2005

Anthony Boadle | Reuters

A U.S. resident who had spent 22 years in a Cuban prison for opposing communism and returned to the island to work for democracy now faces a U.S. jail threat for violating travel restrictions.

Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, a Cuban exile who returned in 2003, has been warned by the U.S. Treasury Department that he could be fined $250,000 or sent to prison for 10 years for staying in Cuba in violation of sanctions intended to isolate the government of Fidel Castro.

“They don’t understand: I am not a tourist in Cuba, I am an activist working to establish a legal space for an independent opposition,” Gutierrez Menoyo said on Tuesday in an interview.

“It is illogical. I’m here seeking freedom and the United States comes and tells me I face a 10-year prison sentence,” he complained.

More:
http://havanajournal.com/politics/entry/eloy_gutierrez_menoyo_threatened_by_us_for_living_in_cuba/

[Oele]

7. What do you mean?

This is just a list of articles on the site that have something to do with Miami.

[bemildred]

4. Cuba dissidents says 36 opposition activists freed in last two days

HAVANA (Reuters) - One of Cuba's most prominent dissident groups said on Friday that 36 opposition activists have been freed in the last two days as part of a deal to improve relations between Havana and Washington that was announced last month.

The dissident Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) said in a statement that 29 of its members were among the 36 released, and it said almost all of those freed were released on condition that they report regularly to the authorities.

http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN0KI12N20150109