An ongoing two-day visit by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos to Cuba is expected to lead to the release of dozens of political prisoners, with the mediation of the Catholic Church.
The condition, put by the Cuban regime, is that they would leave Cuba with their families, according to reports in the Spanish press.
Moratinos is expected to be received by Cuban President Raúl Castro today.
The number of political prisoners in Cuba has dropped to 167, the lowest since the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power, a human rights group said on Monday.
The Cuban dissidence is believed to support Moratinos' efforts. Guillermo Fariñas, a dissident who is now close to death after being on hunger strike for four months, thanked Moratinos for visiting the island and insisted on the release of 26 sick political prisoners. Other well-known dissidents, such as Óscar Espinosa and Elizardo Sánchez, also welcomed the move by Spanish diplomats.
"I am sure that this visit to Cuba will be a success, for Cuba as well as for Spain, and in that in a logical way, our European partners will also see the visit as a good one," Moratinos was quoted by the Spanish media as saying.
A successful visit, according to Moratinos, would allow the "permanent lifting" of an EU common position on Cuba, adopted in 1996, he said.
In fact, Spain tried, without success, to lift this common position during its EU presidency (EurActiv 18/01/10). It nevertheless succeeded in securing a review of the common position in September, in the hope that in the meantime its mediation with the Cuban Catholic church and the country's authorities would bring more results.
Several Eastern European countries in particular oppose the lifting of the common position until the regime in Cuba has opened the door for a transition to a pluralist democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Spain, which has an historic and cultural special relationship with the island, advocates more exchanges to help alleviate the hardships of the Cuban population.
This is the third visit that the head of Spanish diplomacy has made to Cuba since he took that position in 2004. He had previously travelled to Havana in April 2007 and November 2009.
Spain is Cuba's third-largest trading partner and one of the major sources of tourists to the island, the Cuban press recalls.
