MIAMI, United States. — Members of the Catholic Church of Cuba indicated this Thursday that there are possibilities of dialogue with the island’s regime for a future release of the more than 1,000 political prisoners held in Cuban jails.
After the meeting held yesterday between a representation of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba and part of the senior staff of the dictatorship, led by Díaz-Canel, Ariel Suárez, secretary of the Episcopal Conference, told the agency by telephone Reuters that “the parties discussed the issue of the detainees and that the conversation was open and frank.”
On the issues addressed in the meeting, the Catholic Church of Cuba stressed that “the door was open” for future conversations on the release of prisoners, one of the main claims of citizens and organizations inside and outside the Island.
“The Church is grateful for the possibility of the meeting and, above all, is grateful that the door for upcoming meetings has been left open,” said Suárez in relation to a possible dialogue on a future amnesty.
“That will exists and was expressed by both parties,” said the secretary of the Episcopal Conference.
The meeting between representatives of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba and officials of the Cuban regime —which, according to Suárez, the bishops themselves “had requested more than two years ago”— was reviewed by the Cuban Presidency on social networks. The official version indicates that the meeting addressed “the work of the Catholic Church, the socioeconomic situation of the country (and) the strengthening of values in society, among other issues.”
The Catholic Church and several of its representatives have repeatedly suggested to the Cuban regime the possibility of releasing the political prisoners who remain in detention, most of them protesters of the anti-government protests on July 11 and 12, 2021.
During his visit to Cuba last February, Cardinal Beniamino Stellaenvoy of Pope Francis to the island, assured that the Catholic Church “very much wants” the release of the people convicted of demonstrating against the regime in July 2021.
Stella’s statements were issued after an act at the University of Havana, where the Cuban ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel also participated.
