Cuba began releasing prisoners arrested for protesting the regime on Wednesday as part of an agreement in which departing US President Joe Biden removed the communist island from a list of terrorism supporters.
Biden’s last-ditch effort to Cuba is part of a series of activities aimed at cementing his legacy before handing over authority to Donald Trump next Monday.
Also read: https://www.tvcnews.tv/2025/01/cuba-to-release-over-500-convicts-after-removal-from-u-s-terror-list/
The accord brought pleasure to the families of Cubans imprisoned since 2021 for demonstrating against periodic power outages, food shortages, and skyrocketing costs.
A first set of approximately 20 detainees was released on Wednesday, according to their families and non-governmental organisations.
The delisting allows for further U.S investment in the Caribbean island, which has been subject to a U.S economic ban for more than six decades.
However, in a warning that the thaw may be short-lived, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, suggested he may overturn Biden’s decision.
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, who is vociferously opposed to Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, said Trump’s incoming administration was not bound by Biden’s policies.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez admitted that Biden’s decision to undo the terror designation levied by Trump during the last days of his first presidency could be reversed.
Under the deal brokered by the Vatican, Cuba promised to release 553 prisoners, which a senior US official said included “political prisoners” and others “detained unjustly.”
The Miami-based Cuban NGO Cubalex said it had confirmed the release of 20 people, all jailed.
According to official Cuban figures, some 500 protesters were given sentences of up to 25 years in prison, but rights groups and the US Embassy say the figure is closer to 1,000.
With authorities providing no list of those due for release, many prisoners’ families were still anxiously waiting for news of their relatives.
Havana on Tuesday had welcomed its removal from the terrorism sponsor listing as a step in the “right direction,” but lamented that the trade embargo was still in place.
Cuba blames the blockade for its worst economic crisis in decades, which has seen hundreds of thousands of people emigrate to the United States in the last two years, either legally or illegally, according to US figures.
Trump’s first presidential term from 2017 to 2021 saw a tightening of sanctions against Cuba that had been loosened during a period of détente under his predecessor Barack Obama.
Before assuming office, Biden had promised changes in US policy towards the island, but held off after Havana’s 2021 crackdown.
