Roca vows to continue work toward peaceful transition to democracy

By TRACEY EATON / The Dallas Morning News

HAVANA – Cuba's most famous political prisoner, practically unknown in his own country but seen as a cause célèbre for human rights advocates elsewhere, was
freed Sunday, weeks before completing a five-year sentence.

"Of course, I feel happy after getting out of jail. It was four years, nine months and nine days in prison. All that, away from my friends, my family," said Vladimiro
Roca, who was imprisoned in July 1997.

Mr. Roca, 59, and three other dissidents – Martha Beatriz Roque, Felix Bonne and Rene Gomez Manzano – were arrested after writing a document titled The
Homeland Belongs to All of Us.

In the document, the four asked for greater respect for human rights in Cuba and a peaceful transition to democracy. Three were freed
earlier.

Some Cubans believe he was freed early to appease former President Jimmy Carter, scheduled to visit Cuba this month. Mr. Carter
favors normal relations between the countries.

But Mr. Roca said he believes that his release had nothing to do with the upcoming visit, the first in decades by a sitting or former U.S.
president.

"I got out early because of good behavior," he said in an interview at his home in Havana.

Mr. Roca said he isn't bitter about his incarceration.

The experience "taught me about prison conditions in Cuba," he said. "I saw that there are political prisoners who have been in jail
much longer than me. Eight, nine years.

"There are others who have been in jail for more time."

Well-wishers dropped by their house all day, said his wife, Magaly de Armas.

Mr. Roca, who once flew jet fighters for the military, is the son of Blas Roca, a former leader of Cuba's Communist Party.

Asked why he had to serve more prison time than the other authors of the civil rights and political document, Mr. Roca said, "What do you think? Because of my last
name. That's it.

"There's no other reason."

The government was embarrassed that the son of one of the founding fathers of the Communist Party in Cuba turned against the regime, Mr. Roca said.

Cuban authorities say that Mr. Roca and other dissidents have virtually no support in the country and receive illicit funding from the U.S. government. American
officials deny sending money to Cuban dissidents.

Mr. Roca said he would continue trying to bring American-style democracy to Cuba.

"I support peaceful change, not violence," he said. "And I'll push for it even if it costs me my life."