3 Cuban political prisoners released, forced into exile in Spain (UPDATED)

UPDATED, 12:50 p.m. EDT — The three former prisoners have arrived in Madrid.

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Three Cuban political prisoners were released Monday under a deal brokered by Spain and the Catholic Church and expelled from the island, according Radio Martí.

As of this morning, the three prisoners on a trans-Atlantic flight to Madrid were:

• Efrén Fernández Fernández, 47
  
• Regis Iglesias Ramírez, 40
  
• Marcelo Manuel Cano Rodríguez, 45

All three had been imprisoned since the "black spring" crackdown on March-April 2003.

Another three prisoners — Juan Adolfo Fernández Saínz, Fabio Prieto Llorente and Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta — were expected to be released shortly and join more than 20 other recently released dissidents in Spain, according to the Radio Martí.