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C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 023544 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/27/2016 
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: CUBA RELEASES 3 DETAINEES, PROLONGS JAILING OF 2 
OTHERS 
 
Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary. The Cuban Government has released from prison 
three more dissidents, one of whom had been convicted and two 
held without charges since a July 22, 2005 protest in Havana. 
 The releases bring to at least five the number of political 
detainees/prisoners freed in recent weeks.  Meanwhile, the 
GOC has quietly taken steps to keep two other dissidents 
behind bars; one had his conviction upheld by an appeals 
court, while the other, incarcerated for two years without 
charges, learned that a prosecutor intends to indict him and 
seek a three-year term.  Unsurprisingly, the regime's top 
priority is perpetuating its control.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Cuban Government has released from prison three 
more dissidents, one of whom had been convicted and two held 
without charges since a July 22, 2005 protest in Havana.  On 
November 22, we learned that the GOC had released Alberto 
Hernandez Suarez, of the Democratic Youth Union, from Taco 
Taco prison in Pinar del Rio.  He had served seven months of 
a one-year sentence, but it was unclear what he had been 
convicted of; one source said it was "dangerousness," while 
another said it was "disrespect."  News of Hernandez's 
release followed the freeing of two other dissidents, Oscar 
Mario Gonzalez Perez and Santiago Valdeolla Perez, held 
without charges following the July 2005 protest outside the 
French Embassy. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The releases of Gonzalez and Valdeolla, in turn, 
came after the GOC freed two other dissidents taken into 
custody on July 22, 2005: Ricardo Medina Salabarria and 
Francisco Moure Saladrigas.  Meanwhile, the GOC has quietly 
taken action to keep certain dissidents behind bars.  On 
November 22, an appeals court reportedly upheld the 
conviction of Lorenzo Garcia, an independent librarian 
serving one year for laminating ID cards without GOC 
permission.  Also on November 22, we learned that a 
prosecutor is seeking a three-year sentence for labor 
activist Lazaro Gonzalez Adan, who has been held without 
charge for roughly two years. 
 
¶4. (C) Despite the recent freeing of five political 
detainees/prisoners, many Cuban dissidents assert that 
overall repression has increased in recent months, with a 
tangible increase in the use of citations, interrogations and 
vigilance.  Martha Beatriz Roque of the Assembly to Promote 
Civil Society speculates that the regime released the 
detainees/prisoners because they had become a political 
liability, and because to hold them any longer, the regime 
would have had to fabricate charges against them.  Another 
veteran dissident, the writer Jorge Olivera Castillo, says 
the increased repression has forced the GOC to "compensate by 
freeing a few political detainees," adding, "The fact that 
the regime has to compensate shows the regime's weakness." 
 
¶5. (SBU) Another dissident, Camilo Cairo Falcon, recently 
reached the Guantanamo Bay naval base by raft, after being 
detained for his political activities.  He was among those 
detained (and subsequently held without charges) on July 13, 
2005 for comemmorating the 1994 sinking of the "March 13" 
vessel. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶6. (C) As Elizardo Sanchez of the Cuban Commission for Human 
Rights and National Reconciliation said, it is not a "trend" 
when a Government that incarcerates hundreds of political 
prisoners sets a few of them free.  Although the regime is 
probably seeking to score some public relations points with 
the media, Europeans and Latin Americans, it would be a 
mistake to read any reformism into the releases.  Priority 
No. 1 for the regime is, as it has been for decades, the 
perpetuation of state control.  Reform begins when they 
release all of the political prisoners. 
PARMLY