Cuba announced it will release 51 inmates from its prisons in an unexpected move tied to the country’s relationship with the Vatican. As reported by The Hill, the announcement came late Thursday from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which described the decision as an act of goodwill.
Officials did not identify who will be released, saying only that the prisoners had served a significant portion of their sentences and demonstrated good conduct while incarcerated. The statement was issued just hours before Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel was scheduled to hold a rare press conference early Friday to address national and international issues.
Cuba has carried out similar releases in the past. Since 2010, the government has granted pardons to 9,905 inmates, and another 10,000 people sentenced to prison have been released over the past three years.
The identities of those being freed remain undisclosed
In January 2025, Cuba released prominent dissident José Daniel Ferrer as part of a broader plan to gradually free more than 500 prisoners following talks with the Vatican. Ferrer later left Cuba and is now living in the United States, as Washington also dealt with Iran war spending pressures.
Those releases began shortly after the Biden administration signaled it would lift the U.S. designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. The timing drew attention from observers tracking the relationship between Washington and Havana, particularly as regional political tensions continued to shape policy discussions.
One unresolved question surrounding the new release announcement is whether any political prisoners will be among the 51 inmates set to leave prison. Human rights organization Prisoners Defenders said there were 1,214 political prisoners in Cuba as of February 2026, a figure that continues to draw international scrutiny, amid fresh regime control assessments.
Published: Mar 13, 2026 05:30 am