Cuba frees last of prisoners from 2003 crackdown

All of the 12 have said they plan to continue the activities that got them imprisoned in the first place.

FIGHT WILL GO ON

Navarro, 57, told Reuters from his home in Perico, 100 miles east of Havana, he would "continue the peaceful, not violent struggle" for democracy in Cuba.

"The fight now will be with greater vehemence, but also greater maturity," said the farmer and teacher.

Ferrer, a 40-year-old fisherman from eastern Santiago de Cuba, said he rejected going to Spain because "I want to see a free people, and the best place to fight is here inside."

The United States, Cuba's long time ideological enemy, had not yet commented on the completion of the releases.

Relations between the two countries have been strained by Cuba's recent sentencing of U.S. aid contractor Alan Gross to 15 years in prison. Gross was accused of trying to spread illegal Internet access in Cuba under a U.S. program promoting political change on the island.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton welcomed the releases and encouraged "the Cuban government to pursue this process and continue to make progress toward full respect for all human rights in Cuba."

She said the EU would continue pursuing "dialogue with the Cuban authorities."