Humanitarians

Here is one possible explanation for the recent, unexpected decision by the Castro regime to release a handful of political prisoners.

According to today's edition of the British daily The Independent, the move is likely to be part of a carefully-orchestrated plan by the regime to “blunt international criticism of repression on the island”.

Why?

Well, it seems the releases come just days before a high-level meeting between Cuban and Spanish officials “at which Havana will seek the permanent end of European Union sanctions”.

But as the paper points out, most of those released were about to complete their sentences, anyway.

And the releases coincided with the sentencing of two other men at closed trials.

One of them, Rolando Jimenez, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for writing anti-Castro graffiti on public buildings.

Let's see what the EU says about that ...