Cuba has decided to release seven of the 59 dissidents who have been imprisoned since 2003, a decision that critics of Fidel Castro see as a sign of change under his brother's leadership. The release, which is the first since August, was arranged by Spain on humanitarian grounds and announced by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos. Moratinos expressed satisfaction with the decision, stating that it was made unilaterally by the Cuban government after discussions with Spain. According to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, four of the released dissidents will be taken to Spain with their families for medical treatment. These individuals were transferred from various prisons in Cuba to the Combinado del Este prison near Havana before their release. The individuals currently in custody are Omar Pernet, Jose Gabriel Ramon Castillo, Alejandro Gonzalez, and Pedro Pablo Alvarez. Alvarez, aged 60, mentioned in a telephone interview with Reuters that he hopes their release is not the only one. He also stated that all four of them are in good condition and have been treated well. The exact timing of their release is uncertain, as it could potentially happen either today or tomorrow. The dissidents were detained in a political crackdown initiated by Cuban leader Fidel Castro in March 2003, resulting in the imprisonment of 75 of his opponents with sentences of up to 28 years. Sixteen individuals were previously released on medical grounds. Economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, one of the freed dissidents, viewed the recent releases as a positive move by acting President Raul Castro, who has been in charge of Cuba since Fidel Castro fell ill in July 2006 and has not made any public appearances since then. Espinosa Chepe described the releases as a rational decision by the Cuban government and by reformist factions within the country seeking change. He stated that it demonstrates a changing climate and will be advantageous for that changing climate. Another dissenter, Manuel Cuesta Morua, mentioned that Raul Castro's government is responding to international requests for improved human rights respect in Cuba. The releases are evidence that Spain's strategy of engaging in dialogue with Cuba's communist government, advocated within the European Union, is yielding tangible results, Morua added. According to Cuba's primary human rights organization, the Cuban Commission for Human Rights (which is illegal but tolerated), there were 234 political prisoners in Cuba at the end of 2007, a decrease from 283 the previous year, indicating a decline in the number of Cubans imprisoned for political reasons since Raul Castro assumed power. In August of last year, Cuba released its longest-serving political prisoner, Francisco Chaviano Gonzalez, a former math professor and rights activist who had been imprisoned for over 13 years. Morua stated that additional prisoners will be released as Havana gets ready to sign the U.N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and a comparable agreement on economic and social rights in the coming month. This commitment would require Cuba to allow regular U.N. oversight of its human rights situation starting in 2009. The Cuban authorities do not permit the International Red Cross to visit its penitentiaries. They reject the idea of detaining any individuals for political reasons and refer to dissidents as "counter-revolutionary mercenaries" funded by their adversary, the United States.