Cuba to allow ill dissident to leave for the United States

Aug 25, 2010, 13:45 GMT

   Havana - Cuban authorities have given permission for the dissident Juan Juan Almeida to go to the United States following the mediation of the Catholic Church, a church spokesman said Tuesday.

   Almeida is the son of Juan Almeida Bosque, one of the original commanders in the Cuban revolution.

   His requests to leave the island were repeatedly turned down in the past.

   Almeida, 43, is suffering from a bone disease. His wife and daughter live in Miami. He was arrested in May 2009 when he tried to go to the US without permission for treatment.

   He began a hunger strike on July 15 to demand permission to leave.

   He wrote the book Memoirs of an Unknown Cuban Guerilla in which he criticised the government.

   The Catholic Church in Cuba has been in dialogue with the government since May.

   The government has granted permission for 52 political prisoners to leave for Spain, 26 of whom have already arrived in Europe. Six more are due to leave in the coming days. Some others have refused to move abroad.

   Juan Almeida Bosque, the father of Juan Juan Almeida, was a close associate of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. He was also vice president of the country and a prominent member of the Communist Party of Cuba.