It was not a real release, denounces prisoners defenders about release in Cuba

Only part of the Cuban political prisoners were released, and under extremely restrictive conditions, after the announcement of the Cuban government of last January 14, that it would free, in accordance with the Vatican, to a group of 553 people sanctioned for various crimes, It underlines a report by the Independent Organization Prisoners Defenders.

Of the more than 1,161 political prisoners audited by the NGO at the end of 2024, among which 931 remained between bars and another 230 in a situation of home condemnation, Only 200 have passed to a home prison regimelawyer Javier Larrondo, president of the organization, told Martí News from Spain.

It is not a real release, Larrondo said, but it happened, «in all cases, under serious and concrete threats of returning to the intraccessal regime, revoking the subsidies of penalty», if they do not attend to the following conditions:

• They will not be able to move from their city of residence.
• In large part of the cases they are obliged to perform forced labor assigned by state security.
• They cannot publish or express their opinion on social networks.
• They will not be able to make statements to the press.
• They should not have any communication with human rights organizations.
• They may not carry out any activity for human rights, by political prisoners or publicly demonstrate critical attitudes with the Government, all of them considered counterrevolutionary activities.
• They will not be able to travel outside of Cuba or process consular requests and, even, in some cases they have been forbidden until they can continue the application procedures for Spanish nationality, which many yearn and need, because they have decided so, to have a Future in freedom.

The report indicates that it is suspected that the Cuban government used the figures of common prisoners to inflate the number of releases and present the measure as more significant than it really was.

According to the report, 94% of the releases should have already obtained penitentiary benefits since this month of January and even 31 of them had to be totally free.

«These draconian conditions are, without a doubt, in addition, a mockery of the Cuban regime to the negotiation process with the Vatican and the Catholic institution itself, and the verification of the null sense of guilt and repair of which the regime lacks after having imprisoned and tortured The more than 1,801 innocent political prisoners of their positions present in their prisons, ”Larrondo denounced.