JORGE MARAGAS, Member of the Spanish Parliament

July 21, 2010

The recent releases of Cuban political prisoners from the 75-strong group imprisoned in the wake of the one-day trials held in the black spring of 2003 is a great piece of news, but it should not confuse us, the democrats, and should be analysed with some caveats in mind.

1.- The release of the political prisoners is happening under conditions that remain murky today. No amnesty is being granted to the prisoners, nor are all being fully released. Those that accept their exile and if they wish to return to their homeland in the future, they will have to seek the authorisation of the Cuban authorities.

2.- We are still unaware of the eventual fate of those prisoners, such as Dr. Óscar Elías Biscet, who have decided to remain in their country. As it currently stands they remain in prison.

3.- Even when the authorities get round to releasing all Cuban political prisoners, let us not forget that this measure has been used yet sometimes by Castro’s regime in accordance to its sole propagandistic interest and has never supposed a true openness to democratic reforms.

4.- Act 88, on the protection of national independence, more commonly known as “ley mordaza” in Spanish (the “gag law”), through which the political prisoners were sentenced for crimes associated with freedom of expression and free association, remains in full effect, as do the provisions on “peligrosidad social” (“social danger”) as enshrined in the Cuban Criminal Code, all of which the Cuban authorities can use at any time.

If, over the coming weeks, these doubts are not assuaged and there is no indication of any genuine political reform process in Cuba, then the inevitable conclusion must be that the optimism of the Spanish minister has no ground and we are witnessing another tactic of the Cuban government to buy more time and avoid the increasing international pressure due to Orlando Zapata’s death, Guillermo Fariñas’ hunger strike and the historical work of Damas de Blanco.

At Spanish People’s Party we still believe that the main objective of the Common Position, that is “to encourage a process of transition to pluralist democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as a sustainable recovery and improvement in the living standards of the Cuban people…” remains valid and sound insofar as there is no evidence of Cuba’s willingness to change.

If these changes materialise, the European Union could explore a new framework of mutual relations with Cuba, with the objectives set forth in the Common Position remaining in full force. While this does not happen, we must monitor and lend our support to this process of freeing prisoners in order to ensure that the operation is not a substitution of exile instead of imprisonment. The European Parliament, within competencies recognised by the Treaty of Lisbon, should play a leadership role in this international verification process. It would be recommended to collect testimony of the recently released dissidents, as indeed requested by Julio César Gálvez following his arrival in Madrid.

The European Union must support and foster open dialogue between Cubans through the Catholic Church, while at the same time remaining vigilant to ensure that the talks yield results and are not used as a tactic to distract attention, buy time and fragment the Cuban opposition. To do so, the Common Position still remains as the most useful instrument until such time as the Cuban government truly embarks on a genuine process of reform.

We find no admissible arguments of Spanish minister Moratinos in favor to modify at this moment the common position. His arguments are a display of voluntarism and precipitation which not deserve the oldest dictatorship in the world. To avoid any innocent or interested confusion faced theses releases, the best option is to be guided by moral clarity of the political opponent leader, Oswaldo Payá: “I do not defend the Common Position, it is the Common Position that defends our rights

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