THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2010
KLMNO U.S. working to confirm Cuba’s plan cuba from A1
man said, “We would view pris- oner releases as a positive devel- opment, but we are seeking fur- ther details to confirm the facts.” The Roman Catholic Church said in a statement that five of the 52 political prisoners would be freed within hours and would travel to Spain, accompanied by their relatives. Whether they were forced into exile or chose to leave is not known. The remaining 47 will be re- leased in “a process that will take three or four months starting now” and “may leave the country,” according to the church. The pris- oners, who include journalists, community organizers and oppo- sition figures, were sentenced to prison terms of 20 years and more. Sanchez noted that no names had been released and that no relatives or lawyers had been notified, even the five families who were said to be leaving im- mediately. Laura Pollan, the wife of pris-
oner Hector Maceda, said she was overjoyed that her husband might be released, but she told the Associated Press in Havana: “I don’t think they will let everyone go. . . . It’s not the first time they lie.”
One of those arrested in 2003, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, died in February after weeks on a hunger strike. Zapata was sentenced to several long prison terms on charges of “disrespect,” “public disorder” and “resistance.” His death sparked widespread con- demnation of the Cuban govern- ment, even from friendly nations in Europe and Latin America. Hu- man rights activists noted that the report of new releases came as a second hunger striker, Guiller- mo Fariñas, was said to be near death.
History of prisoners
In the years immediately after Cuban guerrillas overthrew the dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, Fidel Castro’s revolutionary gov- ernment jailed as many as 15,000 people. Cuba-watchers say Ha- vana has released handfuls of po- litical prisoners before — typical- ly in conjunction with the release of larger numbers of common criminals — to garner applause before visits by global figures such as the pope or former presi- dent Jimmy Carter. Spanish For- eign Minister Miguel Angel Mora- tinos, whose government has been particularly critical on the prisoners issue, arrived in Havana this week and participated in talks between the church and the government.
If the Cubans free the 52 pris- oners, that would leave only a few “prisoners of conscience . . . held solely for the expression of their political views,” according to a tal- ly by Amnesty International,
Solar-powered plane attempts nighttime flight
Associated Press
geneva — An experimental solar-powered plane whose Swiss makers hope someday to fly around the globe soared into un- charted territory Wednesday — the cold, dark night. The team of adventurers and engineers behind the Solar Im- pulse project are already cele- brating an aviation milestone for the longest solar flight after keep- ing the single-seat prototype aloft for almost 15 hours. But with the goal of 24 hours of nonstop flight, the team set its sights on keeping the sleek air- craft with a 207-foot wingspan in the air until Thursday morning. Pilot Andre Borschberg “will
stay up there as long as possible,” said Bertrand Piccard, the proj- ect’s co-founder. “Hopefully he will still be in the air at sunrise to- morrow. That is the challenge.” Borschberg took off from Pay- erne airfield into the clear blue sky shortly before 7 a.m. Wednes- day, allowing the plane to soak up plenty of sunshine and fly in gen- tle loops over the Jura moun- tains, west of the Swiss Alps. As the sun set, technicians hoped the craft’s batteries — charged from the 12,000 solar cells fixed to the wings and body — would keep the four-engine plane airborne through the night. Earlier in the afternoon, Pic- card — a record-breaking bal- loonist whose father and grandfa- ther also accomplished pioneer- ing airborne and submarine feats — said the flight was going “ex- tremely well.”
At 9:30 p.m., he said strong winds had pushed the plane off course, cutting his safety margin by one hour.
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which has condemned the Castro regime for human rights abuses. The Cuban rights commission,
however, puts the number of po- litical prisoners that would still be held at around 100. That in- cludes people sentenced as terror- ists who may or may not have committed or planned acts of vio- lence against the state. The Cuban government calls them common criminals or “mercenaries” work- ing for U.S. intelligence services.
‘Cosmetic actions’
The imprisonments and ab- sence of political rights in Cuba have been major obstacles in any rapprochement with the United States. “For most of us, the most trou-
bling thing about this event is that it doesn’t change at all the terrible condition of civil and hu- man rights under which the im- mense majority of Cubans live,” said Sanchez, the human rights activist, referring to the promised release. “These are cosmetic ac- tions.”
Raúl Castro has said that he would free all the “so-called polit- ical prisoners” if Washington freed five members of a Cuban spy network from U.S. prisons. U.S. officials have particularly
focused on 75 Cuban activists ar- rested in the spring of 2003. They were collecting signatures on a petition to change the constitu- tion to permit more freedoms; Havana condemned them as paid
lackeys of the United States. While human rights activists in
the United States and Cuba were cautious about the significance of the reported releases, some other Cuba experts said they signaled a shift in Havana’s stance. “This is something new going on, something big,” said Phil Pe- ters of the Lexington Institute think tank in Arlington. “It doesn’t end the human rights problem in Cuba, but represents a dramatic change and is certain to draw a reaction from Washington and Europe.”
boothb@washpost.com deyoungk@washpost.com
DeYoung reported from Washington. FRANKLIN REYES/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Though she was happy that her husband, Hector Maceda, might be released, Laura Pollan was also wary. “I don’t think they will let everyone go,” she said in Havana. “It’s not the first time they lie.”
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