Catholic News

Cubans in Havana protest and cry for freedom on July 11, 2021. / Credit: Domitille P/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 14, 2025 / 16:40 pm (CNA).

Earlier this week, Cuba completed the release of 553 prisoners despite the collapse of a deal with the United States, Vatican News reported. 

In January, under the Catholic Church's mediation, former U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to remove Cuba from a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism in exchange for the early release of hundreds of prisoners. 

The deal was made following years of pressure from the U.S., the European Union, the Catholic Church, and human rights organizations urging Cuba to free anti-government protesters jailed after a 2021 demonstration. 

The Biden administration had initially called Cuba to release "political prisoners," but Cuba less specifically agreed to gradually release "553 people sanctioned for diverse crimes." 

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said: "As part of the close and fluid relations with the Vatican State, I informed Pope Francis of [the decision to free the prisoners] in the spirit of the 2025 Jubilee." 

Just days after President Donald Trump's inauguration, the new administration overturned the deal. Despite the administration's reversal, Cuba continued to free prisoners intermittently.

In February, the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, called the continued release of the Cuban prisoners "a sign of great hope" at the start of the holy year and said he hoped for more "gestures of clemency."

The vice president of Cuba's top court, Maricela Soza Ravelo, announced on state television on March 10 that the full release was completed, according to Vatican News. 

Cuba has not reported how many of the 553 releases were linked to the 2021 protests or disclosed a full list of the freed prisoners.

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