HAVANA, (Reuters) – Cuba has freed one of 13 political prisoners who refused to go into exile and will let him stay on the island, in a signal that all may be released soon.
Arnaldo Ramos told Reuters yesterday that he was in good shape after more than seven years in prison and planned to resume his opposition to the communist-led government.
“I am in perfectly good condition and very happy to be home,” said the 68-year-old economist, who was released and allowed to return to his Havana home on Saturday night. “I’m going to return to the same activities I did before.”
He went on Sunday to the weekly protest march of the dissident group “Ladies in White”, where he posed for pictures beside leader Laura Pollan.
He told reporters Cuba must open its state-controlled economy to get out of its current “stagnation” and that planned reforms by President Raul Castro to cut government workers and expand the private sector were insufficient.
“Cuba will go from stagnation to chaos if there is no real opening, at least for the economy,” the slight, soft-spoken Ramos said.
He was one of 75 dissidents arrested in a 2003 crackdown on government opponents and one of the last remaining in jail, serving an 18-year prison sentence.