The Cuban Catholic Church announced Tuesday the release of the last two remaining prisoners of conscience remained in prison from the Group of 75, as known to the opposition condemned the crackdown on the "Black Spring" of 2003. This is Felix Navarro and José Daniel Ferrer, as reported the Archbishop of Havana in a statement.
Felix Navarro, 56, was a board member of the opposition Movement for Democracy and Freedom in Cuba when he was sentenced in 2003 to 25 years in prison, the same sentence he received Ferrer, 40 years and belonging to the Christian Liberation Movement. Like other ten of his colleagues and released, Navarro and Ferrer had rejected the condition of exile in Spain to get out of prison.
After mediation by the Catholic Church in Cuba, the government of Raul Castro in July 2010 pledged to gradually release the 52 opponents of the Group of 75 who were in prison at the time, which has resulted in a long 'drip' of releases that has spread over eight months. The Government of Spain supported the open process between the Catholic Church and the authorities of the island and its territory has hosted dozens of these prisoners of conscience and other inmates, along with their family members.
The first release from prison were the opponents of the Group of 75 who agreed to the condition of exile in Spain, where he traveled 40, while the releases have been delayed most are those who refused to leave Cuba. Months after operations started, the Cuban authorities expanded to other releases of prisoners convicted of crimes against state security, although many of them internal opposition not recognize them as active dissidents.
Another 11 prisoners to be transferred to Spain's Catholic Church on Tuesday also announced the upcoming release and transfer to Spain of 11 Cuban prisoners outside the Group of 75. One of the prisoners in the new list released on Tuesday the Archbishop of Havana Lobaina Néstor Rodríguez, president and founder of the Cuban Youth Movement for Democracy, was arrested in December 2010 and who was on hunger strike.
Recently, Amnesty International (AI) demanded his release and Nestor Rodriguez considered a "prisoner of conscience imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression." The rest of the prisoners whose release was announced on Tuesday are Juan Carlos Vazquez, Bodanis Zulueta, Jose Antonio Sardinas, Antonio García, Arnaldo Márquez, Eduardo Diaz, Erick Caballero, Alberto Santiago Dobochet, José Manuel de la Rosa and Roberto Lopez.
Néstor Rodríguez addition, only four of them appear in the lists of political prisoners that makes the opposition Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN), with sentences ranging from four to 30 years. Most of the crimes the group is related to acts of terrorism, disrespect or attempts to leave the country illegally. 
Felix Navarro, 56, was a board member of the opposition Movement for Democracy and Freedom in Cuba when he was sentenced in 2003 to 25 years in prison, the same sentence he received Ferrer, 40 years and belonging to the Christian Liberation Movement. Like other ten of his colleagues and released, Navarro and Ferrer had rejected the condition of exile in Spain to get out of prison.
After mediation by the Catholic Church in Cuba, the government of Raul Castro in July 2010 pledged to gradually release the 52 opponents of the Group of 75 who were in prison at the time, which has resulted in a long 'drip' of releases that has spread over eight months. The Government of Spain supported the open process between the Catholic Church and the authorities of the island and its territory has hosted dozens of these prisoners of conscience and other inmates, along with their family members.
The first release from prison were the opponents of the Group of 75 who agreed to the condition of exile in Spain, where he traveled 40, while the releases have been delayed most are those who refused to leave Cuba. Months after operations started, the Cuban authorities expanded to other releases of prisoners convicted of crimes against state security, although many of them internal opposition not recognize them as active dissidents.
Another 11 prisoners to be transferred to Spain's Catholic Church on Tuesday also announced the upcoming release and transfer to Spain of 11 Cuban prisoners outside the Group of 75. One of the prisoners in the new list released on Tuesday the Archbishop of Havana Lobaina Néstor Rodríguez, president and founder of the Cuban Youth Movement for Democracy, was arrested in December 2010 and who was on hunger strike.
Recently, Amnesty International (AI) demanded his release and Nestor Rodriguez considered a "prisoner of conscience imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression." The rest of the prisoners whose release was announced on Tuesday are Juan Carlos Vazquez, Bodanis Zulueta, Jose Antonio Sardinas, Antonio García, Arnaldo Márquez, Eduardo Diaz, Erick Caballero, Alberto Santiago Dobochet, José Manuel de la Rosa and Roberto Lopez.
Néstor Rodríguez addition, only four of them appear in the lists of political prisoners that makes the opposition Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN), with sentences ranging from four to 30 years. Most of the crimes the group is related to acts of terrorism, disrespect or attempts to leave the country illegally.
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