Normando Hernández González

Normando Hernández González was released from prison on July 13, 2010, and taken to Havana Airport where he was reunited with his wife and daughter before boarding an overnight flight to Spain. He arrived in Madrid on the afternoon of July 14, along with one other dissident. His release follows talks between the Cuban government, the Catholic Church, and the Spanish foreign minister, during which Cuba reportedly pledged to release the remaining 52 dissidents who had been jailed during the “Black Spring” of March 2003 and in subsequent months. Hernández now lives in Miami with his family.

Case History

In April 2007, at the urging of Hernández’s mother, Costa Rican legislators granted Hernández a humanitarian visa. In June, Cuban officials refused to honor the visa. On September 10, 2007, Costa Rican legislator Jose Manuel Echandi Meza presented a formal complaint to the UN about Cuba’s denial of an exit permit to Normando Hernández González, claiming that Cuba was violating Normando’s “right to health and freedom.”