Cuba will release seven out of 59 dissidents who have been imprisoned since 2003, a decision that opponents of the ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro see as a sign of change under his brother's leadership. The release, which is the first since August, was negotiated by Spain on health grounds and announced by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos. Moratinos expressed satisfaction with the decision, which was made unilaterally by Cuban authorities after dialogue with Spain. Four of the released dissidents will be sent to Spain with their families for medical treatment, having been gathered from different jails in Cuba at the Combinado del Este prison near Havana. Omar Pernet, Jose Gabriel Ramon Castillo, Alejandro Gonzalez, and Pedro Pablo Alvarez are the individuals mentioned. Alvarez, who is 60 years old, stated in a phone interview with Reuters from prison that they are doing well and have been treated well. He also mentioned that they are unsure of when they will be released, as it could be either today or tomorrow. The dissidents were detained in a political sweep initiated by Cuban leader Fidel Castro in March 2003, resulting in the imprisonment of 75 of his adversaries with sentences of up to 28 years. Sixteen individuals had already been granted release 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. Fidel Castro has not made any public appearances since then. According to Espinosa Chepe, the Cuban government's decision to release the dissidents reflects a rational approach and signifies a desire for change within reformist circles. "It demonstrates a shift in the current atmosphere and will be advantageous for that shift," he stated. Another dissident, Manuel Cuesta Morua, mentioned that Raul Castro's government was reacting to international requests for increased respect for human rights in Cuba. The recent releases indicate that Spain's strategy of engaging in dialogue with Cuba's communist government, supported by the European Union, is yielding positive outcomes, according to Morua. The Cuban Commission for Human Rights, the main rights organization in Cuba, reported that there were 234 political prisoners in Cuba at the end of 2007, a decrease from 283 the previous year, suggesting a decline in the number of Cubans imprisoned for political reasons since Raul Castro assumed power. Last August, Francisco Chaviano Gonzalez, a former math professor and rights activist who had been imprisoned for over 13 years, was released, marking Cuba's longest-serving political prisoner. Morua mentioned that additional releases can be anticipated 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 by the following month. This commitment would require Cuba to permit regular U.N. oversight of its human rights performance starting in 2009. The Cuban government prohibits the International Red Cross from entering its prisons. It refutes detaining any political prisoners and refers to dissidents as "counter-revolutionary mercenaries" funded by its adversary, the United States.