Italy said it hoped Cuba would make "concrete gestures" in favour of
jailed dissidents after talks between the Cuban government and the
Catholic Church, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
In a meeting with Cuba's ambassador to Italy Rodney Lopez Clemente,
Italy's undersecretary for foreign affairs Vincenzo Scotti "underscored
the great expectations aroused among Italian public opinion and its
politicians by the beginning of dialogue between the Cuban government
and the Catholic Church."
A gesture, Scotti said, would trigger "an improvement of the island's
image at the international level, giving vigour and concreteness to the
dialogue that the European Union wants to pursue with Cuba."
Scotti expressed particular concern over the situation of dissident
Guillermo Farinas, who has been on a hunger strike for four months.
In June, Cuba released a jailed paraplegic political dissident in prison
since 2003 as a result of talks between the Roman Catholic Church and
President Raul Castro.
Earlier on Monday, Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said
he hoped a trip to Cuba this week for talks on human rights will lead to
"results", as Spanish media said Havana may agree to free some political
prisoners.
Moratinos was leaving for Cuba later Monday to raise human rights issues
and support mediation efforts launched by the Roman Catholic Church to
begin releasing political prisoners.
Spain's leading daily El Pais said Moratinos believes Cuba's communist
government will gradually begin releasing political prisoners starting
with 26 whose are in poor health, as a result of his visit.
Another newspaper, ABC, said most of the freed inmates would go to the
United States, while France and Italy are also ready to take in some of
them.
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