Cuba releases first prisoners after deal

Cuba has begun releasing the first of hundreds of prisoners it agreed to release under a deal with the United States.

Under the deal brokered by the Catholic Church, President Joe Biden removed Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, just days before his term ends.

In return, the Cuban government said it would release 553 people, many of whom were arrested during anti-government protests across the communist-run island in 2021.

Although Havana has cautiously welcomed the deal, there are doubts about how long it will last since President-elect Donald Trump hinted he might back out of his pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio.

During the Senate nominations hearing on Wednesday, Rubio said referring to some of the sanctions against Cuba that the Biden administration lifted on Tuesday, “the new administration is not bound by that decision.”

Earlier, Trump’s choice to become national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said on Fox News that “everything that (the Biden administration) is doing right now, we can roll back, and nobody should have any illusions about a change. Cuba policy “.

Despite concerns raised by Trump administration officials, Cuba released about 20 prisoners on Wednesday, according to local NGOs.

One of those released was 53-year-old Donaida Pérez Paseiro, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for taking part in the 2021 anti-government protests in which citizens demanded more from the Cuban government to ease widespread food shortages and lower spiraling prices.

In a video she posted on social media, Ms Pérez Paseiro said the Cuban government had used her and her fellow prisoners as “bargaining leverage” to remove Cuba from the US list of sponsors of terrorism.

In the recording, he also said that he will continue to “fight for the freedom of Cuba.”

Dariel Cruz García was also among those released on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sedition after joining the 2021 protests.

He told Reuters that officials had announced he could serve the rest of his sentence at home – which has been reduced since his original sentence.

“I escaped from hell to be with my family. I will behave myself so I can move on,” he told the news agency.

Maricela Sosa, the vice president of Cuba’s Supreme Court, said on television that those released have not received an amnesty, nor a pardon, and warned that they could be arrested again if they break the terms of their parole.

Also, hundreds of families are still waiting to hear whether their loved ones will be among the 553 the government has agreed to release.

“They are desperate, everyone is waiting with great anxiety for a call from their children,” Dariel Cruz García’s mother told Reuters.