Freed Cuban prisoners tell of cells with rats, roaches and disease outbreaks

Cuba prisoners shared cells with rats, roaches

MADRID — Freed Cuban political prisoners who were flown to Spain this week say their cells were rat- and roach-infested and that disease was rampant.

Julio Cesar Galvez told reporters at a press conference in Madrid on Thursday that “the hygiene and health situations in prisons throughout the island of Cuba are not terrible, they are worse than terrible.

He says “We had to live with rats and cockroaches… with excrement. It’s not a lie.”

Galvez is one of nine political prisoners released by Cuba and flown to Spain, part of a group of 52 activists being released in stages by the Cuban government after being imprisoned in a 2003 crackdown.

A 66-year-old journalist sentenced to 15 years, Galvez says there were outbreaks of dengue and tuberculosis in prison.