After talks with Catholic Church, Cuba to free 52 political prisoners

Guillermo Farinas, an opposition activist, has been on hunger strike for 134 days [AFP]

The Cuban government on Wednesday released five political prisoners and agreed to set 47 others free in the coming months, a dramatic move that may save the life of a prominent dissident who has been on a four-month-long hunger strike to push for the liberation of inmates.

The deal, which reduces the number of prisoners of conscience on the island by about a third, came after a meeting that included President Raul Castro of Cuba, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the archbishop of Havana, and the Spanish foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos.

The prisoners to be released were all detained during a mass crackdown on dissent in 2003, when the government of PresidentFidel Castro rounded up 75 activists and journalists who were accused of acting as “mercenaries” on behalf of the United States.