The Cuban regime announced that it will release 51 individuals sentenced to imprisonment in the coming days, presenting it as a gesture within the context of relations between the Cuban state and the Vatican.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the decision comes after historically maintained exchanges with the Holy See regarding processes for the review and release of incarcerated individuals.
The statement indicates that the beneficiaries have served a significant portion of their sentences and have maintained good behavior during their time in prison.
However, it does not mention the names of the inmates nor clarify if there are political prisoners among them, a category whose existence the Cuban regime systematically denies.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry also indicated that the measure coincides with the approach of the religious celebrations of Holy Week.
In the statement, the regime also recalled that since 2010, pardons have been granted to 9,905 inmates and that in the last three years, around 10,000 sanctioned individuals have been released through various benefits provided for in existing legislation.
The authorities deemed the decision as part of a customary practice of the Cuban criminal justice system and presented it as a demonstration of the humanitarian nature that, according to the government, has characterized the country's penal policy.
And although the regime did not mention the names of the potential beneficiaries nor clarified whether there are political prisoners among them, opponents like Félix Navarro, who is in a delicate state of health, and his daughter Sayli Navarro Álvarez, as well as Loreto Hernández García, Donaida Pérez Paseiro, Roberto Pérez Fonseca, the rapper Maykel Castillo Pérez (Maykel “Osorbo”), and the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara are still imprisoned.
According to recent data from the independent organization Justicia 11J, there is currently an underreporting of at least 760 individuals incarcerated for political reasons in Cuba.
Of them, 358 were imprisoned for participating in the protests on July 11, 2021, while at least 112 are in vulnerable conditions due to health or age, and 176 have been connected to civil society organizations, political movements, or activist spaces.
According to Amnesty International, of the 553 individuals that the regime claimed to have released in 2025, at least 211 were imprisoned for political reasons, although several of those released later returned to prison or were forced into exile, highlighting the lack of real guarantees of freedom.
This took place within the framework of an agreement reached after negotiations with the United States and the mediation of the Vatican.
According to the official statement signed by MINREX, the decision was made in the context of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025 declared by Pope Francis and, according to the island's government, reflects the "humanitarian and just" nature of its justice system.
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