By David Crary, Associated Press
"I am happy,'' said Dr. Omar del Pozzo Marrero, one of the two
men jailed for unmasking the spy operation. "Why am I happy? I
have liberty for the first time in my life.''
The 12 former prisoners, along with about two dozen relatives,
reached Toronto's Pearson International Airport after an overnight
flight from Havana.
"Long live democracy in Cuba,'' they chanted. They posed for
news photographers, donned warm clothes provided by the Canadian
government to ward off the pre-dawn chill, and rode a school bus to
a motel.
A number of the prisoners reportedly have sought asylum in the
United States, but it is not clear if it has been granted to any of
them.
Canada initially agreed to accept 19 of the 200 prisoners whose
cases were cited by the pope during his recent visit to Cuba.
Two of the 19 are to arrive in Canada later, but five are still
imprisoned because Canadian authorities decided not to accept them
after conducting health and security checks.
One of those rejected by Canada was involved a 1992 attempt to
steal a boat in which four policemen were killed; two others were
jailed for a failed 1987 plane hijacking in which 14 people were
injured by a hand grenade.
Canada's immigration minister, Lucienne Robillard, said the
decision to refuse entry to the five was taken "only with the
greatest care and compassion ... keeping in mind responsibility for
the safety and health of Canadians.''
Many of those who were freed had received prison terms of 10
years or more for alleged involvement in "enemy propaganda'' or
"rebellion.'' Human-rights groups said the offenses often were
nothing more than distributing political leaflets, talking about
alternatives to the Castro regime or phoning Miami radio stations
with news about the island.
Del Pozo Marrero and another freed prisoner, Victor Reynaldo
Infante Estrada, were jailed after revealing the identity of a
Cuban government agent who was posing as a dissident and had become
the leader of a small radical opposition group.
Both were detained in April 1992, and were serving 15-year
prison terms for revealing state security secrets.
The released prisoners and their families are free to remain in
Canada, but some are expected to head to Florida because they have
relatives in the huge expatriate Cuban community around Miami.
Canada is one of Cuba's largest trading partners, and has
expanded its involvement on the Communist-ruled island while the
United States continues its longstanding embargo. Canadian
tourists, about a third of the island's visitors, have increased
from 142,000 to 169,000 a year since 1995.
© 1998 Associated Press