Cuba's most prominent political prisoner, Oscar Elias Biscet, was freed today after serving a three-year sentence for calling a protest against the government over alleged human rights abuses.
Biscet, 41, was charged with dishonoring national symbols, public disorder and instigating crime following an incident at a Havana press conference three years ago when he displayed the Cuban flag upside down in protest at the government.
In 1999, Biscet went on a 40-day water-only fast to demand the release of political prisoners on the island.
Cuba has long been criticised for its treatment of political dissidents which Castro's government often deride as "counterrevolutionaries" on the payroll of the United States.
Cuba has been the subject of US trade restrictions since 1960, following the nationalisation of US interests in the island nation. In 1989, the blockade was extended to include "extra territorial" measures.
These impose heavy penalties on US companies which operate in other countries and trade with Cuba, or trade with other companies which trade with Cuba. Thus, US companies operating in Ireland, for example, became subject to US law.The United States and Cuba have been in conflict ever since, even though the US has made peace with other communist countries.
The embargo that the US imposed on Cuba 35 years ago has been condemned by the general assembly of the United Nations, as contrary to international law. In each of the past seven years, the United Nations has condemned the US blockade of Cuba, most recently by a vote of 157 to two.
The embargo bans sales of food and medicine to Cuba, not only by US companies, but also by foreign firms selling medicines or equipment with US components.
Effectively, this bars access to nearly half of new drugs on the world market.
Additional reporting REUTERS