ITUC Welcomes Release of Cuban Trade Unionist

ITUC Welcomes Release of Detained Cuban Trade Union Activist

Brussels, 19 February 2008 (ITUC OnLine): The International Trade Union Confederation has welcomed the release from a Cuban prison of independent trade union activist Pedro Pablo Alvarez Ramos, who had been in detention for nearly 5 years.

Alvarez Ramos, the General Secretary of the ITUC-associated United Workers’ Council of Cuba, CUTC, was one of seven labour activists sentenced to between 12 and 26 years imprisonment for treason and conspiracy. The seven were part of a larger group of 75 people sentenced after closed trials in March 2003. Alvarez Ramos was released along with journalists Jose Ramon and Alejandro Gonzalez, and dissident Omar Pernet, after negotiations between the Spanish and Cuban Governments. All four subsequently travelled to Spain.

“The ITUC welcomes this positive development and hopes that this gesture by the Cuban authorities will open the way to the early release of the more than 70 persons still in detention for political reasons”, said General Secretary Guy Ryder.

The ITUC represents 168 million workers in 155 countries and territories and has 311 national affiliates. Website: http://www.ituc-csi.org

ENDS

© Scoop Media