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               Dissidents: Cuba Frees 2 More Political Prisoners

   by Reuters

   Cuba freed two more detainees, dissidents said on Thursday, as Havana
   began to release 53 people the United States considers political
   prisoners, as part of an agreement between the two nations aimed at
   ending decades of hostility.

   Five detainees have been liberated over the past 24 hours, political
   opposition groups on the communist-led island said, including three
   others on Wednesday - all members of the dissident Patriotic Union of
   Cuba (UNPACU).

   The commitment by Havana to free the prisoners was a major part of an
   historic deal announced last month, under which the two governments
   agreed to renew diplomatic relations after more than 50 years.

   The latest two detainees to be freed were Ernesto Riveri Gascon and
   Lazaro Romero Hurtado, UNPACU said.

   Like the three released on Wednesday, the pair had been accused of
   relatively minor offenses.

   Romero was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to four years behind bars on
   charges including making a public disturbance and threats, apparently
   during a confrontation with police. Riveri was given two years on the
   same charges.

   Cuba's government does not comment on police actions involving
   detentions, and has said nothing about this week's releases.

   Elizardo Sanchez, president of the dissident Cuban Commission for Human
   Rights and National Reconciliation, which monitors such detentions,
   said more releases were expected on Thursday and over the coming days.

   "That could indicate the start of the process ... under which around 50
   Cuban political prisoners would be released from custody," Sanchez said
   in a statement.

   Jose Daniel Ferrer, executive secretary of UNPACU, said 38 members of
   his organization remained in custody.

   All five of those freed appear on an informal list drawn up by
   dissidents, but it is not known if they were on the official list of
   53.

   Details about the political prisoners who will be freed have been
   withheld by both governments, providing ammunition for Republican
   congressional opponents and other hardline critics of the policy shift.

   One congressional aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, told
   Reuters Wednesday that Cuba was resisting the release of some prisoners
   on the list, but a White House official denied that, saying the U.S.
   government fully expected all 53 to be liberated.

   Cuban and U.S. officials are due to hold talks in Havana later this
   month on migration and the normalization of diplomatic relations.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-dissidents-cuba-frees-two-more-political-prisoners/2590504.html