If wishful thinking about the release of a substantial number of Cuban political prisoners comes to fruition, let us remember who does not the deserve the credit.
Neither the Spanish government nor the Catholic Church, more known for their appeasement of the Cuban tyrants than for taking a forceful stand against Havana. They may bask temporarily in the glow of a diplomatic victory, but it will not make the world forget how for so long they have let the Castros off the hook.
And certainly not the Castro dictatorship, which still has laws and policies in place that ensure Cubans will continue to be imprisoned anew for their opposition to the regime.
If "tens" of prisoners are released in coming weeks, all the credit will be due to those Cubans who against tremendous odds, have stood courageously and demanded that their rights, and the rights of all Cubans, be honored and respected.
Cubans, and our friends, off the island who have used our abilities and opportunities to forcefully and repeatedly tell the stories of Cuba's political prisoners.
Cubans like the Damas De Blanco, marching courageously each Sunday, in the face of threats from police and government-organized mobs, to demand that their imprisoned loved ones be released.
Cubans like Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Egberto Escobedo and Guillermo Fariñas, who have sacrificed their physically well being — and in Zapata's case, his life — to illustrate to the world the cruelties inflicted by the Castro dictatorship on the Cuban people, especially political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.
And most of all, the hundreds, if not thousands of Cubans, imprisoned in the Castro gulag because of their continued faith in freedom, their fellow Cubans and in God. Behind bars, they have stayed true to their cause and demonstrated to their captors, and to the world, that their spirit has not been broken.
This victory, if it comes with their unconditional release, will be theirs alone.
With their courage and their intransigence, they have inspired a movement that one day — maybe even one day very soon — will culminate with a free Cuba.
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