Published: July 14, 2010
Nine Cuban political prisoners tasted freedom this week after they were
allowed to fly to exile in Spain. They pledged to keep fighting for
democracy in Cuba. They must not fight alone.
The president of Cuba, Raúl Castro, has said he would free 43 more
prisoners. But Cuba is believed to be holding dozens or possibly
hundreds of others whose only crime is that they dared to challenge
their government's repression. When Mr. Castro took the reins from
Fidel, his ailing brother, in 2006, there was hope that things might
change. Too little has. We are not sure why Raúl Castro decided to free
these prisoners now, but he may be trying to improve his government's
standing abroad.
Spain, which has been pressing the European Union to ease its policy of
linking economic aid to Cuba with human rights progress, helped broker
the release. The Roman Catholic Church, which has begun speaking out on
issues of political conscience, also played a role.
Mr. Castro moved only after one courageous prisoner, Orlando Zapata
Tamayo, starved himself to death in February to protest prison
conditions. Another prisoner, Guillermo Farinas, then began his own
hunger strike. Mr. Farinas, who was in poor condition, began eating
again after the prisoner release was announced.
The Ladies in White, wives and mothers of the imprisoned dissidents,
also have impressed the world — and shamed their government — with their
peaceful Sunday protests and their courage in the face of attacks by
government-backed mobs.
We have long called for an end to the Cuban embargo that has given the
Castro governments all too convenient an excuse for their failures — and
ensured that the United States has little influence there. The people of
Cuba have been trapped in a cold war nightmare. The United States needs
to join with Europe and come up with a strategy to finally end that
nightmare.
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