By Vanessa Bauzá
HAVANA BUREAU

HAVANA · The Cuban government freed three ailing dissidents from prison on Monday in an apparent attempt to repair frayed relations with the European Union and renew diplomatic dialogue.

At least 15 others were transferred from their cells to a Havana prison hospital for medical checkups, a move that opposition activists predicted could lead to additional releases in the coming days. The dissidents were part of the group of 75 members of the opposition sentenced to long prison terms during an unprecedented, island-wide crackdown.

"I am very happy to breathe the air, to be free," said Oscar Espinosa Chepe, an economist who had been serving a 20-year sentence, hours after arriving at his tiny Havana apartment on Monday, his 64th birthday. "To be imprisoned is a terrible sensation. You feel asphyxiated. I am not an assassin or a delinquent."

Margarito Broche Espinosa, who was also released after serving 19 months of his 25-year sentence, said state security agents told him "not to seek problems" by resuming dissident activities. The government granted him a one-year parole from prison, but he will apply for political asylum in the United States, he said.

"I plan to leave the country because my health is very critical," said Broche, 47, who had a heart attack in August and also suffers from emphysema and circulatory problems. "I don't trust the government."

Marcelo Lopez, 40, a human rights activist suffering from a degenerative neural disease, was also released from prison. He had a 15-year sentence.

Like other opposition activists, Broche, Lopez and Espinosa Chepe attributed their release to heavy international criticism of Cuba's human rights record.

"The Cuban government had a plan which failed," Broche said. "They didn't think the international community would create so much pressure ... but no one forgot us."

Just three days before Monday's releases, Cuba's foreign minister, Felipe Perez Roque, announced Havana had resumed contacts with Spain. The move marks a significant shift toward restoring diplomatic ties, which deteriorated sharply last year when the European Union downgraded relations with Cuba in response to the dissident crackdown and the executions of three ferry hijackers.

Spain has led an EU initiative to reopen relations with Cuba and reevaluate the way it shows support for the opposition movement.

The Cuban government could be especially interested in improving relations with Spain at a time when Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government has been at odds with the Bush administration over the war in Iraq, said Damian Fernandez, director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University.

"The [Cuban] government does need to soften its international image to garner friends that would translate into economic possibilities," Fernandez said. "Some within the European Union were ambivalent about Spain's decision to get closer to the Cuban government. Castro's release is going to give some political capital to those who advocated a shift toward Cuba."

A veteran human rights activist, Elizardo Sanchez, said the Cuban government has jailed about 10 dissidents this year. "The government could be seeking several objectives, to release those who are sick to avoid them dying in jail and to send signals of false change," Sanchez said. "We take [the dissidents' release] as good news, but without forgetting there are about 300 people imprisoned for political motivations, and of them, 80 are prisoners of conscience."

Vanessa Bauzá can be reached at vmbauza1@yahoo.com.

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