CUBA : First 19 Prisoners Reportedly Freed

The government has released the first 19 of more than 200 prisoners it has said it will free after Pope John Paul II’s visit to the island last month, a leading dissident said. Odilia Valdes Collazo, president of a group called the Cuban Party for Human Rights, said those released included Hector Palacios, a well-known dissident who was serving an 18-month term on a charge of “disrespect for authority.” When completed, the releases will involve the largest number of people freed from jail by President Fidel Castro’s government in years.