At first, Spain’s foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos assured everyone that the 52 Cuban prisoners of conscience that are supposed to be released and shipped to Spain can return to Cuba whenever they like. The release was not a forced exile, he declared to reporters.
Now, however, he is beginning to qualify that statement by saying that Spain cannot guarantee that the Cuban dictatorship will authorize their return.
Spain’s Foreign Minister – Miguel Angel Moratinos expressed his sympathy for the 52 Cuban political prisoners who are going to be released by Raul Castro’s Government. Moratinos said that Spain extends open invitations to those prisoners and the country has accepted the proposal to accept those people.
Furthermore, the 52 Cuban prisoners can be accompanied by their respective family members and that the exiles and their relatives can also return to Cuba, if they choose to. However, Moratinos said that the prisoners will have to apply for an authorized mode of return and it doesn’t guarantee that their pleas will be approved by the Cuban government.
I imagine that in the coming weeks and months, we will be hearing many more qualifying statements coming from Spain.
In other words, given that the UN Declaration of HUman Rights “guarantees” people the right to exit and re-enter their own countries, the Spanish government is making itself complicit in declaring the activities of these prisoners criminal and their jailing legitimate.
Ridiculous.