Officially being held on charges of conspiring with Washington to destabilize Cuba’s political system, these 52 prisoners had all been rounded up and imprisoned in a crackdown of March 2003. In defiance of state rules, these prisoners were political opposition supporters, community organizers and those journalists who reported on them. With cooperation from the Cuban government, the Catholic Church has recently become an increasingly strong voice in Cuban politics. Cardinal Jamie Ortega negotiated this release as well as the May decision to end of Cuba’s ban on Mothers and wives of prisoners marching, known as the Ladies in White. Sarah Stevens, head of the Washington-based Center for Democracy in the Americas, said, “This is joyful news for the prisoners and their families, a credit to the Cuban Catholic Church.”
