Editorial. Published Monday, June 5, 2000, in the Miami Herald

For the third time, Cuba's police state freed a member of the celebrated dissident Group of Four: René Gómez. Hallelujah. Now Cuban authorities need to free Vladimiro Roca, the only group member remaining in prison. Their crime was publicly to criticize Cuba's one-party state in the eloquent manifesto, The Homeland Belongs to Us All.

For this, Mr. Gómez served nearly three years in prison -- as did Félix Bonne and Marta Beatriz Roque, who also have been released. Just as his fellow dissidents, Mr. Gómez says that his ideas haven't changed. ``I have been repressed,'' he said shortly after his release, ``but no one has convinced me that I'm mistaken.''

One day the Group of Four's message advocating pluralistic democracy freely will resound throughout Cuba. Meanwhile, pray for freedom for Mr. Roca and hundreds of courageous others jailed for crimes that wouldn't exist if fundamental human rights were observed in Cuba.

Copyright 2000 Miami Herald

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