Written by Eduardo Verdejo
ACI Plensa Staff January 17, 2025 / 15:35 PM
The Cuban government’s announcement to release 553 prisoners was described by analysts and opposition groups as a “swap” by the regime to obtain economic benefits from the United States, including removing the island from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. are.
The government of President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced on Monday, January 14, that it was releasing the prisoners “in the spirit of the Universal Jubilee of 2025” and communicated the decision to Pope Francis in a letter sent at the outset. reported that it was of January.
In a statement, the Cuban regime did not say how many of those released were political prisoners, but said: “The releases are based on a careful analysis based on the various modalities envisaged by law. ” he said. Receive the benefits of each gradually. ”
The announcement was welcomed by the Holy See, with Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin saying: “This is a sign of great hope at the beginning of the Jubilee.” Vatican News reported on January 15 that the release took place “within the framework of long-standing mediation with the Catholic Church.”
However, Alberto Fernández, a Cuban-American geopolitical expert interviewed by the Spanish version of EWTN News in Washington, D.C., said that while the communist regime was “disguising its announcements as religious,” They are misrepresenting themselves,” he said. They were taken hostage by the Biden (President) administration for economic and political reasons. ”
The Biden Democratic administration, which will take over from Republican Donald Trump on January 20, announced it would remove Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, which also includes North Korea, Syria, and Iran.
The White House said the decision was facilitated by the Vatican’s support in securing the release of political prisoners on the island.
The island was on the list from 1982 to 2015, but it was removed by President Barack Obama as part of his policy to “repair” relations with Raul Castro. However, it was included on the list again on January 11, 2021, at the end of the first Trump administration.
The Republican administration said its goal was to “repress its people at home and deny them resources to counter the Castro regime’s malign interference in Venezuela and other parts of the Western Hemisphere.”
Robert L. Muse, a lawyer specializing in U.S. sanctions against Cuba, told the Spanish-language edition of BBC World News that being off the list would leave Cuba vulnerable to tourism, which is key to its economy, since the number of tourists from Cuba has increased. He said there is potential for benefits in areas such as: European Union, Chile, South Korea or Japan can visit the Caribbean country without fear of losing their US tourist visa exemption.
Cuba may also receive loans from foreign companies, although this is not a certainty since it is a effectively bankrupt country that has failed to pay its bills.
However, all this could come to nothing if President Trump again adds Cuba to the group of countries that sponsor terrorism.
Fernández highlighted the Catholic Church’s mediation for the release of political prisoners, especially “those arrested after the demonstrations of July 11, 2021.”
That Sunday, thousands of Cubans protested in dozens of cities demanding freedom, citing food and medicine shortages and power outages. This was the largest demonstration under the communist regime, and in response an unspecified number of demonstrators, many of them young people, were imprisoned.
In this regard, Fernández said, “If the regime wants to honor the Jubilee, the first thing it has to do is resign, that is, end the regime. This is because the government is the exact opposite of that.” What is Jubilee? What is liberation? ”
Prisoners must be released “unconditionally”
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The Movement for Christian Liberation (Spanish acronym MCL) said: “Cuba’s political prisoners should not be subject to barter or negotiations regarding other countries’ policies toward Cuba.”
Although the MCL has suffered persecution, imprisonment and expulsion of several members throughout its history, the “human dignity of political prisoners must be respected and all should be released unconditionally.” he added.
“Not only on humanitarian grounds, but essentially as a matter of justice, as they are innocent of the trumped-up charges,” MCL continued in a statement titled “Another day of infamy.”
Democracy groups also argue that the U.S. government’s “appeasement policy” “encourages and emboldens dictators and empowers oppressors and terrorists by giving them the feeling that… “There is only one.” You can act with complete impunity. ”
“We deplore the Democratic administration’s efforts to shed the image of a bloody dictatorship, perhaps in retaliation for the widespread political support of the Cuban exile community (in the United States) for its Republican opponents in the last presidential election. I think so,” MCL said.
“Cuba’s freedom and democracy should be the goals of America’s two major political parties, not a political campaign issue,” the advocacy group said.
Being released from a Cuban prison does not mean you are free.
The non-governmental organization Prisoners Defenders, which monitors the situation of political prisoners in Cuba, also spoke out on its website, calling attention to the conditions under which the regime would release the 553 prisoners. Therefore, there will be a need to “discuss reduced release under certain conditions” such as good behavior and work.
“If this is confirmed, this news will not be as positive as the Cuban regime would like. In Cuba, releasing prisoners does not make them free.”
Prisoners’ lawyers say that if this were the case, “some people would be granted parole, others perhaps on humanitarian grounds, and some given a series of commutations under certain conditions. If you don’t comply, you will be sent back to prison.” You will never be able to regain your full freedom. ”
Martí Noticias posted the audio testimony of Liban Hernández Sosa, one of the first political prisoners to be “paroled”.
“They explained to me the conditions of my release: I must work, I cannot participate in social media, I cannot protest, much less protest against the regime.” “I’m very happy and happy to be here, in my home, with my wife and children, even under unfair circumstances,” he said.
Among the hundreds of other prisoners released was José Daniel Ferrer, founder of the Patriotic Union of Cuba. Donaida Perez, a 53-year-old woman jailed for protesting on July 11, 2021. and Yandier García Labrada, an MCL activist who was sentenced four years ago for “publicly protesting against the disorganization and corruption in the distribution of supplies.”
“We know that this is only the result of an international campaign carried out in favor of our political prisoners, and has nothing to do with what the Cuban regime has been doing,” Pérez told Marti Noticias. The Cuban regime is only using us as a bargaining chip to get Cuba removed from the list of terrorist states.
This article was first published by CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, ACI Prensa. Translated and adapted by CNA.
Eduardo Verdejo holds a degree in Journalism from Universidad Nacional de San Marcos (Peru). He has been a member of the ACI Plensa team since 2001. He has covered Pope Francis’ visits to Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, and Peru. He also holds a degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Piura (Peru) and completed a comprehensive course on style modification at the Lima Publishing School (Peru).
