Cuba’s government said that it would release 51 people from the island’s prisons in an unexpected move it says stems from a spirit of goodwill and close relations with the Vatican. Source: AP.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the announcement on Thursday but did not identify who would be released, except to say that “all have served a significant part of their sentence and have maintained good conduct in prison”.
The announcement was made just hours before Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel addressed the nation to announce that his government is in talks with the Trump Administration to find solutions to the two countries’ differences, as the Caribbean country continues to face the effects of a US oil blockade.
The government said it has granted pardons to 9905 inmates since 2010. It added that in the past three years, another 10,000 people sentenced to imprisonment were released.
In January 2025, Cuba released prominent dissident José Daniel Ferrer as part of a government decision to gradually free more than 500 prisoners following talks with the Vatican.
Mr Ferrer left Cuba last October and is now in the United States.
He was one of several prisoners released in early 2025 as part of talks with the Vatican. The releases began a day after president Joe Biden’s administration announced his intent to lift the United States designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.
It wasn’t immediately known if any of the people the government plans to release are political prisoners.
The nonprofit Prisoners Defenders has said there were 1214 political prisoners in Cuba as of February 2026.
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Cuba will release 51 people from prison in an unexpected move (AP via Crux)
