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The president Donald Trump gave Cuba a secret two-week ultimatum to release high-profile political prisoners, including Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Osorbo, as a gesture of goodwill amid direct negotiations between Washington and Havana.
The demand was presented during a secret meeting held on April 10 in Cuba, according to a source familiar with the discussion who revealed this on Sunday to . It was the first time a U.S. government plane had landed in Cuba since 2016.
The high-level delegation from the State Department warned the regime that the island's economy "is in free fall" and that its ruling elites have "a narrow window to implement reforms before circumstances worsen irreversibly".
A spokesperson for the Department of State confirmed to USA Today that the Trump administration "remains committed to the release of all political prisoners, including Alcántara and Osorbo." Both artists were sentenced in June 2022: Otero to five years and Osorbo to nine, in connection with the trials resulting from the protests on July 11th.
The context of these negotiations includes the mass pardon of 2,010 prisoners announced on April 2 by the Cuban regime, a measure that, however, explicitly excluded those who committed crimes against authority, leaving out most of the high-profile political prisoners.
Cuba currently records a historic high of 1,250 political prisoners, according to Prisoners Defenders, a figure that reflects the regime's increasing repression even amidst diplomatic talks.
Otero Alcántara recently staged an eight-day hunger strike that concluded on April 6, in protest against his detention conditions. Previously, a habeas corpus petition filed on his behalf had been irregularly denied on March 23 by a Cuban court.
In parallel with the pressures from Washington, Vatican diplomacy has also yielded partial results: in March, the release of 51 more prisoners through Vatican mediation was announced, although the most emblematic cases remain unresolved.
President Trump has publicly heightened the rhetoric regarding Cuba, promising a New Dawn for the island, and when asked about military planning, he did not rule out any options on the table, during remarks made at a rally in Phoenix.
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