Cuba has agreed 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 releases were negotiated by Spain on humanitarian grounds and were announced by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos. The Cuban government made the decision unilaterally after discussions with Spain, and four of the dissidents will be sent to Spain with their families for medical treatment. These four individuals have been transferred to the Combinado del Este prison in Havana from various jails across Cuba. 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 telephone interview with Reuters from prison that he hopes there will be more releases besides theirs. He mentioned that they are all doing well and have been treated well. Alvarez 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 crackdown directed by Cuban leader Fidel Castro in March 2003, which resulted in the imprisonment of 75 of his opponents with sentences of up to 28 years. Sixteen individuals had already been released on health 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. Espinosa Chepe believes that the Cuban government and reformist factions within it are taking a rational step towards change. He stated that the releases of political prisoners in Cuba indicate a changing climate and will be beneficial for that change. Another critic, Manuel Cuesta Morua, pointed out that Raul Castro's government is responding to international requests for improved human rights in Cuba. Morua also highlighted that Spain's strategy of dialogue with Cuba's communist government, supported by the European Union, is yielding concrete results. According to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights, the number of political prisoners in Cuba decreased from 283 in 2006 to 234 in 2007, suggesting a decrease in the number of people imprisoned for political reasons since Raul Castro assumed power. Last year, Cuba released its longest-serving political prisoner, Francisco Chaviano Gonzalez, who had spent over 13 years in jail for his activism. Morua mentioned that additional prisoners will likely 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 upcoming month. This commitment would require Cuba to permit regular monitoring of its human rights situation by the U.N. starting in 2009. The Cuban government does not grant the International Red Cross entry to its prisons, claiming that it does not detain any political prisoners and instead characterizes dissenters as "counter-revolutionary mercenaries" funded by the United States.