By the end of the process, the government had released a total of 126 prisoners, 114 of whom went to Spain with their families – including another former prisoner who had already been released to Spain – totaling nearly 800 people.
Marquez said that Cardinal Ortega met personally with each of the prisoners and gave them his blessing if they decided to go to Spain.
But “he never tried to convince anyone to emigrate,” the spokesman noted. “Only 12 said they did not want to go to Spain and instead wanted to remain in Cuba.”
A few asked if going to Spain was a condition for their release, to which the Cardinal replied it was not, “and he assured them that they would be released later, and they were.”
“Those who accepted to make the trip were taken to one place and their families to another, separately, while the immigration process took place, in which the Church was not a participant,” Marquez said.
Upon arriving at the airport, they were greeted by Spanish officials who asked them “if it was their will to leave Cuba, and if this was the case, they were asked to sign a statement of agreement, as Spain would not accept transferring any of them by force. All of them gave their consent and signed.”
Referring to what he called unfounded criticism of the Church's role in the situation, Marquez said it's “wrong” to imply that prisoners “were forced into exile or forced to leave as a condition for not remaining in prison.”
“It is even more wrong to assert that the Cuban government and the Church joined together in exiling these persons,” he emphasized. “The best proof against this assertion, perhaps, is the 12 that decided to remain in Cuba.”
In the end, Marquez said, “as incredible as it seemed at the beginning,” the requests made by the women who met with Cardinal Ortega on May were completely granted. “And the governments of Cuba and Spain surpassed those demands.”