Cuba completes prisoner release under Vatican-brokered deal
Caroline MolloyCuba this week completed the release of 553 prisoners as part of a Vatican-mediated agreement that unfolded over several months, despite shifting political circumstances.
The final phase of releases was confirmed on state television March 10 by the vice president of Cuba’s top court, Vatican News reported.
“As part of the close and fluid relations with the Vatican State, I informed Pope Francis of [the decision to free the prisoners] in the spirit of the 2025 Jubilee,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said, according to Vatican News.
The deal, initially reached during the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration, had been tied to the U.S. removing Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Even though the agreement faced political obstacles — including the Trump administration’s reinstatement of Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism — the Cuban government proceeded with phased releases over time, culminating in the final group being freed this week.
Human rights organizations and foreign governments had long advocated for the release of hundreds of Cubans detained following mass anti-government protests in July 2021, according to Vatican News. Many had been sentenced to prison terms of up to 25 years.
Some opposition figures and activists have been freed, but others, including dissident artists and a musician associated with a protest anthem, remain imprisoned. The Cuban government maintains that many of those released were not political detainees.
