Cuba has begun freeing the first of hundreds of prisoners it agreed to free following an agreement with the United States.
Under an agreement made by the Catholic Church, President Joe Biden removed Cuba from the US list of sponsors of terrorism a few days before the end of his term.
In return, the Cuban government said it would release 553 people, most of whom were arrested during the anti-government protests that swept the communist-run island in 2021.
Although Havana has cautiously welcomed the deal, there are doubts about how long it will last after President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio, appeared to suggest it could be reversed.
Speaking at his Senate nomination hearing on Wednesday, Rubio said that while talking about other sanctions on Cuba that the Biden administration withdrew on Tuesday, “the new administration is not bound by that decision”.
Earlier, Trump’s choice for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, had said on Fox News that “anything [the Biden administration] what we are doing now, we can reverse, and no one should be under any illusion about a change in Cuban policy”.
Despite doubts raised by Trump administration officials, Cuba released about 20 prisoners on Wednesday, according to local NGOs.
One of those released is Donaida Pérez Paseiro, 53, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for her role in the 2021 anti-government protests, where citizens demanded the Cuban government do more to alleviate food shortages. lower prices are rising.
In a video posted on social media, Ms. Pérez Paseiro said that the Cuban government used her and her fellow prisoners as “negotiating agents” to remove Cuba from the US list of sponsors of terrorism.
On the record, he said he would continue to “fight for the freedom of Cuba”.
Dariel Cruz García was also among those released on Wednesday.
A 23-year-old suspect was sentenced to 15 years in prison for treason after participating in the 2021 protests.
He told Reuters that officials had announced that he could serve the remainder of his sentence – reduced from his original sentence – at home.
“I escaped from hell to be with my family. I will behave well to continue,” he told the media.
The Vice President of the Supreme Court of Cuba, Maricela Sosa, said on television that those released have never received amnesty and have never been forgiven and warned that they may be arrested again if they violate the terms of the amnesty.
There are still thousands of families waiting for news on whether their loved ones will be among the 553 that the government has agreed to release.
“They are desperate, they are all waiting with great anxiety to be called by their children,” Dariel Cruz García’s mother told Reuters.
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