Spanje neemt 50 Cubaanse dissidenten over (en)
Spain could take in 52 Cuban political prisoners after their release by the Communist island's government in a move pregnant with implications for EU relations.
Spanish foreign minister Miguel Moratinos made the announcement on Wednesday (7 July) following a six-hour meeting with Cuban leader Raul Castro in Havana.
"The Spanish government has accepted the proposal that all those who are released travel to Spain, if they so wish," he told journalists.
The Spanish invitation comes in response to Cuba's decision to release the 52 after talks with the Catholic archbishop of Cuba, Jaime Ortega.
The Church began discussions with Havana in mid May as a series of hunger strikes shone a light on the situation of dissidents in the country's jails.
Five prisoners, all of whom were among the 75 individuals arrested and sentenced to long prison terms during a 2003 crackdown, are to be released shortly. The other 47 will come out over the next three to four months, according to a Church statement.
Mr Moratinos said that Mr Castro had promised prisoners' families would be able to go with them and to freely visit Cuba in future if they wish.
Cuba back in 2003 maintained that the 75 were not dissidents but were in fact working with its old arch-enemy, the United States, to overthrow the government.
The prisoner release is likely to put the idea of normalising Cuba-EU diplomatic relations back on the table.
Spain under its rotating EU presidency, which ended on 1 July, had already tried to generate momentum in the area. But the initiative failed, notably over the death of Cuban hunger striker Orlando Zapata in February.
Spain has far-reaching commercial interests in Cuba in the tourism and oil sectors. It is also a former colonial power in the region.
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