REACTIONS TO CUBA’S COMMUTATION OF DEATH PENALTY

Cuban President Raúl Castro’s announcement that virtually all death sentences would be commuted to terms of 30 years to life was welcomed by social sectors calling for the abolition of capital punishment. Reverend Elizardo Sánchez, president of the dissident Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said that "it is a gesture that merits our support and I am sure that as we move towards a climate of mutual respect in international relations, capital punishment will be completely eliminated." Orlando Márquez, director of the magazine Palabra Nueva, put out by the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Havana, said the announcement was "very good news and a bold and mature step by the Cuban Council of State, taking into account how deeply rooted support for this kind of punishment is among a large part of Cuban society."