Seven former political prisoners from Cuba smiled and gave victory signs Tuesday after they and their families were flown to freedom in Madrid, the first of 52 dissidents the Cuban government has promised to free in a historic policy shift, AP reported. In an action once deemed unthinkable, Cuba agreed last week to liberate all those still imprisoned from a 2003 crackdown during which 75 activists were jailed. Spain, which along with the Roman Catholic Church negotiated the deal, agreed to accept the first group of Cuban exiles. Other dissidents had been freed in Cuba earlier. Those arriving in Madrid included Lester Gonzalez, Omar Ruiz, Antonio Villarreal, Julio Cesar Galvez, Jose Luis Garcia Paneque, Pablo Pacheco and Ricardo Gonzalez Alfonso, according to Spain's Foreign Ministry. They came on two flights that left Havana on Monday night along with family members who brought the group to around 35 people. After a brief news conference, the seven left the airport for a hotel in a working-class neighborhood of Madrid. -- SPA
