• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 12 / 25 / 2010

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By JENNY BARCHFIELD. The Associated Press. Thursday, December 23, 2010; 7:04 PM. HAVANA -- Cuba is to release two prisoners, the archbishopric of Havana said Thursday, though the men are not among 11 high-profile prisoners slated to be freed under a deal between the government and Roman Catholic Church.

Under the informal agreement, the government of President Raul Castro is to free 52 peaceful dissidents jailed in 2003.

Forty-one have been released so far but 11 are still behind bars, and there has been speculation about whether the government would release them before Christmas.

Orlando Marquez, spokesman for the Havana archbishopric, said Miguel Angel Vidal Guadarrama and Hector Larroque Rego are to be released "shortly" and will be sent to Spain. Thursday's brief statement did not provide any further details about the men or their convictions.

Both appear on a list of people jailed for committing crimes against Cuban state security, compiled by Elizardo Sanchez, who heads the Havana-based Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation. According to the list, both of Larroque and Vidal were convicted of violent acts against state security.

Vidal was convicted on terror charges in 2003 and sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to the Commission. Arrested in 2000, Larroque was convicted on charges including robbery, illegally possessing arms and piracy.

The 52 prisoners named in the government's deal with the church are among 75 activists, social commentators and opposition leaders jailed following a 2003 crackdown. None committed acts of violence.

The agreement was announced following a July 7 meeting between Castro, Havana's Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega and then-Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.

It wasn't clear whether the agreement stipulated that the prisoners would be required to move to Spain in exchange for their release, but all but one of the 41 freed so far are now living there.

Those still behind bars have said they want to remain in Cuba - a demand widely interpreted as stumbling block to their release.

Ortega has continued to insist the government intends to make good on the deal - even after the informal Nov. 7 deadline for the prisoners' release came and went.

Associated Press writer Andrea Rodriguez in Havana contributed to this report.

Source:www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/23/AR2010122304257.html