CUBAN 75ER PALACIOS GAINS CONDITIONAL RELEASE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 023579

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2016
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: CUBAN 75ER PALACIOS GAINS CONDITIONAL RELEASE

REF: HAVANA 23544

HAVANA 00023579 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Buddy Williams for 1.4(d).


1. (S) Summary: The Cuban Government granted conditional
probation December 6 to self-described pro-democracy activist
Hector Palacios Ruiz, allowing him to head home from the
Havana hospital where he says he spent the last three years.
Palacios, apparently freed on health grounds, belongs to the
organization All United, led by Vladimiro Roca. Palacios,
who has heart and circulatory issues, is one of the 75
activists rounded up and jailed in a March 2003 crackdown.
His release marks the first time a 75er has been freed on
health grounds since Raul Castro gained power on July 31.
Fifty-nine 75ers remain behind bars. Palacios may be a State
Security agent posing as an activist, and some freed 75ers
responded to his release with skepticism. Palacios said he
was held in solitary confinement in a cell at Carlos Finlay
hospital, but his account could not be corroborated. His
release follows those of at least five political detainees,
at least two of whom were accused of having ties to State
Security. The Raul Castro-led GOC is also having new
political opponents detained, including Ahmed Rodriguez
Albacia, the brave activist taken into custody December 4
following an opposition youth forum. Suggested press
guidance follows in Paragraph 7. End Summary.


2. (C) Hector Palacios Ruiz, sentenced to 25 years on March
31, 2003 for crimes against state security, returned from the
penal wing of Carlos Finlay Hospital to his Havana home on
December 6. At 10 a.m., he told us by phone, authorities
informed him that the Cuban Government had granted him
conditional probation. Palacios, a 65-year-old Villa Clara
native, told us his health is not good but that he is elated
about regaining his freedom. He said he had met with many
reporters and invited us to meet sometime soon.


3. (U) Palacios is the first 75er to be freed on health
grounds since Raul Castro assumed control of the GOC on July

31. 59 of the 75 peaceful activists jailed in the "Black
Spring" crackdown remain in prison.


4. (S) Veteran activist and probationed 75er Martha Beatriz
Roque of the Assembly to Promote Civil Society (APSC),who
spent more than one year imprisoned at Finlay, visited
Palacios at his home on December 6. Roque said he had gained
weight and could stand to lose at least 40 pounds. She noted
that Palacios said he had spent the last three years alone in
Cell No. 1 at Finlay's penal wing. Roque said: "During my
time there, inmates were not allowed to have a cell to
themselves." She added: "I don't think he was ever truly
imprisoned." Another APSC member and probationed 75er, Felix
Bonne Carcassas, told us he had little doubt that Palacios
works for State Security. He told us a story we had heard
several times before, about activists bumping into Palacios
in the street in eastern Cuba when Palacios was supposed to
be in prison.


5. (S) Palacios' release followed the release in recent weeks
of five political activists who were held without charge
since July 2005. Among these five were Francisco Moure
Saladrigas and Ricardo Medina Salabarria; both are somewhat
tainted, according to USINT files. Moure was accused of
serving as a provocateur at the May 20, 2005 APSC dissident
gathering; he stood in the middle of the field and shouted,
"Viva George Bush!" (Detractors said the outburst, filmed by
hidden GOC videocameras, enabled the regime to "Americanize"
the gathering.) Medina, an Orthodox Catholic priest, is
affiliated with Palacios. A Catholic priest once told us
that Medina was expelled from a seminary for misconduct.

COMMENT
--------------


6. (S) We are unable to draw definitive conclusions on the
ultimate loyalties of Palacios, Moure and Medina, but the
evidence raises a number of red flags and adds to our
existing skepticism over the releases. Even if the three
were untainted, the release of a small number of political
detainees/prisoners does not represent a change in the
fundamental nature of the regime. After all, the GOC is
still arresting Cubans for their beliefs or peaceful
political activities, based on draconian security laws.


7. (SBU/NF) SUGGGESTED CONTINGENCY PRESS GUIDANCE:
Q: Any comment on the Cuban Government's release of Hector
Palacios, one of the 75ers? Is this a pattern? Any
indication that Raul Castro will release more political

HAVANA 00023579 002.2 OF 002


prisoners?

A: Hector Palacios Ruiz has been granted conditional
probation. Like other 75ers freed on health grounds, he
could be returned to prison at any time. The fact is, Cuba is
home to at least 300 documented political prisoners, and
thousands of others are behind bars for "dangerousness," in
the absence of any crime. The Cuban Government should
release all political prisoners and detainees, and allow the
Cuban people to form political parties and choose their own
leaders.

If pressed:
We would draw your attention to the case of Cuban youth
activist Ahmed Rodriguez Albacia. He woke up on December 4
to find dozens of State Security officials descending upon
his home. They searched through his belongings for three
hours, then hauled him off to a detention center. He has not
been charged with any crime. Officials told his mother,
Margarita Albacia, that he will spend between one week and
one year at the detention center.
WILLIAMS