Cuba has freed all 53 political prisoners agreed to in last month’s normalisation deal with the United States after secret talks over many months, the US State Department said yesterday.
News of the release comes as US officials prepare to travel to Havana next week for talks to lay the foundation for a historic rapprochement after 50 years of cold war hostilities.
The fact that the prisoners were released in almost record time seems to me a positive event
Some critics cast doubts on the number of those released and noted that there were dozens of political opponents still incarcerated.
Nevertheless, dissidents said the speedy release of the political prisoners was a sign of how much and how quickly relations have changed between Washington and the communist-led island of Havana.
“The fact that the prisoners were released in almost record time seems to me a positive event,” said opposition figure Manuel Cuesta Morua. “It also seems to be an important indicator of the fact that the Cuban government seems to understand that the path of normalisation travels through human rights.”
The US side drew a narrow definition for the people it wanted released to include only those defined as being jailed for peacefully having exercised their rights of freedom of expression and assembly, two senior US officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Left out under these terms were at least eight Cuban exile militants jailed on terrorism charges after they attempted to infiltrate Cuba with weapons, as well as 20 Cubans jailed on charges of trying to hijack boats or planes to flee the island.