Released Prisoners Remain Hostages of the Cuban Regime

Terrorist groups, such as Hamas, learned from the Cuban dictatorship the art of kidnapping in order to always have prisoners from whom they can profit.

By Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso (14ymedio)

HAVANA TIMES – The release of prisoners in Cuba in January 2025 as part of a negotiation with the Biden Administration makes me think of the one in October 1980. Then, the United States was swinging between Carter and Reagan, now between Biden and Trump. And in Cuba, as Augusto Monterroso said in his shortest story: “When I woke up, the dinosaur was still there.”

It’s been 45 years. In the United States, presidents and administrations change, and in Cuba the same banana dictatorship remains clinging to power, with its same vices and tricks, specialized in the business of using people as bargaining chips. Terrorist groups like Hamas learned the art of kidnapping from the Cuban dictatorship: always hold hostages to get the best deal.

In 1980, 3,900 political prisoners were released, many of whom had been behind bars since 1959. This was the result of months of negotiations between the Cuban government and the Carter administration. This time they have promised only 553 prisoners, and the swindle of the Cuban Government is evident, accustomed to passing a cat for a hare in one blow, such as releasing renowned prisoners José Daniel Ferrer and Pastor Lorenzo Rosales.

Some had served or were about to complete their sentences; others were already at home under extra-penal leave and were offered conditional release to be included on the list. This happened with Professor Pedro Albert Sánchez, who, at the risk of returning to prison, did not accept the proposal to exchange his legal status, which for serious health issues allows him to be at home, for a conditional release.

In total, what does 553 mean for the Cuban dictatorship, if those released are still imprisoned under extra-penal licenses or conditional release? Capturing another 553 is mere sport for the regime.

These supposed amnesties are frequent but are far from really being so. The prisons will always be full of hostages to gain an advantage. More recently there were others, such as the one requested by Pope John Paul II as part of his visit to Cuba in January 1998. Among those released from prison, I had a relative, my maternal uncle, Irelio Barroso, a hero for me, who had been sentenced to 12 years in prison in 1994, and who upon the arrival of the Pope declared a hunger strike. If he had not been released from prison he would have died.

Then came the 2010 amnesty with 126 released , after the death of prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, and that of 2012 during the visit of Pope Benedict XVI, and that of 2014 (53 released) after the announcement of the re-establishment of US-Cuba relations, and that of September 2015 during the visit of Pope Francis.

It’s sad to see how some prisoners are kept as bargaining chips to prolong the negotiations. This is the case for Miguel Díaz Bouza (more than 30 years in prison) and Ernesto Borges Perez (27 years in prison). They have survived many such amnesties and against all hope have remained in prison.

In some cases, they have also imprisoned nationals of foreign governments as valuable bargaining chips. Thomas White and Mel Bailey were released in the negotiations with Carter in 1980, and Alan Gross in the negotiations with Obama in December 2014.

If a Cuban has to think twice before going out on the street to call for freedom, an American will have to think about it 10 times. The Regime will not hesitate to use them to its advantage in a negotiation.

Nicolas Maduro, an apprentice of the Cuban dictatorship, like guerrilla terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, in recent months has used several Americans to gain an advantage in future negotiations. There are several detention centers full of hostages, such as the fearsome Helicoide prison in Caracas, where the guards have been trained in torture by Cuban soldiers.

One of the most reported cases of foreigners recently kidnapped by Maduro in Venezuela is that of the Argentine gendarme Nahuel Gallo, who since December 8, 2024 has been a cause for concern for the government of Javier Milei.

It is not surprising then that José Daniel Ferrer, one of the most internationally recognized opponents, was quoted in The New York Times. I would never be grateful for my release if it came in an exchange that was an unclear, unethical, undignified agreement,” he said. “I said verbatim: I prefer death to owing my release to an undignified agreement.”

Ferrer said that the Government of the Island mocked both Biden and the Vatican, which should adopt a firmer stance against human rights violations in Cuba. Similar statements were made in a video on social networks by Luis Robles Elizastigi, another well-known opponent.

I have spoken with several of the released prisoners, whose names I prefer not to mention so that they can remain at home. The reality is that they have not been freed but released from prison. They are still hostages and at any time can be returned to prison until another possible negotiation to buy time, as happened in 1980. And the dinosaur is still there.

Translated by Regina Anavy for Translating Cuba.

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