In an interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Cuban dissident Carlos Alberto Montaner said Cuba’s President Raúl Castro wants to release all political prisoners on the island.

On Monday, Cuba commences its previously announced relaxation of the detention regime for political prisoners. Detainees currently imprisoned far from their homes will be transferred to centres closer to those homes. Sick prisoners will be transferred to hospital. The reason for this, says Mr Montaner, is that President Castro has realised that cracking down hard on political prisoners only brings dishonour to image of his administration.

The change of policy was announced last week, following a conversation between President Castro and high-ranking functionaries of the Roman Catholic Church. Mr Montaner, a prominent writer and dissident who has spent years in exile in Spain, thinks President Castro is now planning to release the island’s approximately 200 hundred political prisoners. The relaxation of the detention rules would be a first step towards making this a reality.

But President Castro can’t publicly announce his intention to release the detainees because their existence is not officially acknowledged by the regime in Havana. That’s why, believes Mr Montaner, the president is making use of the Roman Catholic Church as a partner in discussions. “The Church functions as a first-rate vehicle for Raúl Castro in releasing all political prisoners.”

The Cuban dissident explained that President Castro knows he can’t enforce his will on Cuba by repression. “The Roman Catholic Church is a prestigious partner in discussions and one that many dissidents trust.”

Mr Montaner went on to say to RNW that, “I don’t know if Castro will release all political prisoners in one go, but he will certainly try. It’s probable that he may have asked the [Roman Catholic] Church to help in finding foreign destinations to which the dissidents may travel.”