15th Cuban journalist freed, exiled to Spain

Víctor Rolando Arroyo Carmona, a Cuban journalist imprisoned since March 2003, was freed and flown to Madrid today, bringing to 15 the number of editors and reporters released following July talks between the government of President Raúl Castro and the Catholic Church.

Arroyo and his family arrived in Madrid this afternoon, and were taken to a hotel in the city’s Vallecas neighborhood, according to news reports.

“I am very excited at this new stage in my life, trying to enjoy every little moment,” Arroyo told CPJ in a telephone interview. Echoing comments made by other newly freed Cuban journalists, Arroyo said he had not wanted to leave Cuba . “But after considering my family’s well-being and the severe, negative impact that prison conditions had on my health, I decided to accept the offer to come to Spain ”.

A journalist for the news agency Unión de Periodistas y Escritores de Cuba Independientes, Arroyo was imprisoned during the massive March 2003 government crackdown on political dissent and independent journalism known as the Black Spring.

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists