The World - News from June 6, 1986

Cuban authorities have released more than 30 political prisoners in recent weeks, including some long-term inmates who had not completed their sentences, according to State Department officials. Most were freed after an appeal by French undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau, who raised the issue during a meeting earlier this year with President Fidel Castro, the officials said. There are no reliable reports on the total number of political prisoners in Cuba, but a recent report by Americas Watch, a New York-based human rights organization, said there are “more long-term political prisoners in Cuba than anywhere else in the world.”