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Cuba 'frees opposition activists,' says group

January 9, 2015

A Cuban dissident group has said nearly 40 opposition activists have been freed in the last two days. The development is said to be part of a deal between Washington and Havana.

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Kuba , Fahne , Symbobild, Modernisierung Öffnung Internationale Beziehungen
Image: picture alliance/Robert Harding World Imagery

The dissident Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) said in a statement on Friday that 29 of its members were among 36 people released by Cuban authorities.

The group added that almost all of those released had been freed on condition that they report regularly to Cuban authorities. UNPACU said that most of the individuals released had been told that they risked breing sent back to prison if they continued as opposition activists.

In the statement, UNPACU leader Jose Daniel Ferrer said the government must end its practice of jailing dissidents.

"Our freed prisoners are committed to continue fighting for the democratic Cuba which we all want," Ferrer said.

Part of a deal

Havana has made a commitment to free a list of 53 prisoners as part a major part of the historic deal under which the Cuban and US governments agreed to renew diplomatic relations after over half a decade.

Among them was Angel Yunier Remon, a popular hip-hop artist known as "The Critic." Remon was arrested in 2013 after painting "Down With The Dictatorship!" on the street outside his home in the eastern city of Bayamo.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki has not specified how many prisoners have been freed, nor their identities. Havana has still not commented on the issue.

Cuba has consistently accused dissidents of being US "mercenaries."

Days after the rapprochement deal, President Raul Castro referred to the dissidents as "a few hundred individuals who receive money, instructions and oxygen from the outside."

rc/ipj (AFP, Reuters)