Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Cuba to allow ill dissident to leave for the United States

Cuba to allow ill dissident to leave for the United States
Posted : Wed, 25 Aug 2010 06:46:01 GMT
By : dpa

Havana - Cuban authorities have given permission for the dissident Juan
Juan Almeida to go to the United States following the mediation of the
Catholic Church, a church spokesman said Tuesday.

Almeida is the son of Juan Almeida Bosque, one of the original
commanders in the Cuban revolution.

His requests to leave the island were repeatedly turned down in the past.

Almeida, 43, is suffering from a bone disease. His wife and daughter
live in Miami. He was arrested in May 2009 when he tried to go to the US
without permission for treatment.

He began a hunger strike on July 15 to demand permission to leave.

He wrote the book Memoirs of an Unknown Cuban Guerilla in which he
criticised the government.

The Catholic Church in Cuba has been in dialogue with the government
since May.

The government has granted permission for 52 political prisoners to
leave for Spain, 26 of whom have already arrived in Europe. Six more are
due to leave in the coming days. Some others have refused to move
abroad. Juan Almeida Bosque, the father of Juan Juan Almeida, was a
close associate of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. He was also vice
president of the country and a prominent member of the Communist Party
of Cuba.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/340905,dissident-leave-united-states.html

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