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Only two political prisoners recognized by human rights organizations appear among the 2,010 sanctioned individuals who benefited from the pardon that Miguel Díaz-Canel signed on April 3, as revealed by comparing the list published in the Official Gazette with the databases of Prisoners Defenders and the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH).
The complete nominal list, published as an annex to Presidential Decree 1212/2026, arrived almost two months after the official announcement of the pardon, which hindered any independent verification during that time.
The only political prisoners identified so far are Iván Leydis Acosta Matos, 25 years old, and Kevin Lay Laureido Rojas.
Acosta Matos was arrested on June 12, 2023, "after peacefully protesting against the Government of Cuba in a recreational area," according to Prisoners Defenders.
Laureido Rojas, for his part, was arrested and tried by a military tribunal for refusing to comply with Active Military Service (SMA), according to the OCDH.
The decree does not clarify how many of the 2,010 beneficiaries had actually been released before its publication, under what conditions they were freed from prison, nor if they remain subject to surveillance, restrictions, or threats of revocation.
As of 8:00 PM on Monday, no human rights organization had identified any other political prisoners on the list, although the official document includes about 95 citizens with cases linked to the Chamber of Crimes against State Security of the Provincial People's Court of Havana.
The delay in publishing the list has been highlighted by organizations as a mechanism of deliberate opacity. Cubalex has questioned since April 3 the lack of transparency and guarantees for political prisoners in the process.
Amnesty International warned on April 15 that the announced releases continued to be characterized by "a lack of transparency and discretion" and called for the "immediate and unconditional" release of all individuals detained for political reasons.
The decree itself explicitly excluded the so-called "crimes against authority," a category that the Cuban authorities commonly apply to protesters and dissidents, which in practice shielded the majority of political prisoners from inclusion.
Opposition figure José Daniel Ferrer accused the regime of using the pardon to "get out of the bind" without addressing the underlying situation, while U.S. Senator Rick Scott called it a "scheme to save money" and denounced that "not a single political prisoner" was released.
The pardon was officially announced on April 2 as "a humanitarian and sovereign gesture" in the context of Holy Week, amid diplomatic pressure from Washington, which that same month issued a two-week ultimatum to Cuba to release high-profile political prisoners as a condition for advancing bilateral relations.
This is the second pardon so far in 2026 and the fifth since 2011, during which time the regime has benefited over 11,000 people through these measures, with none representing a real amnesty for political prisoners. Prisoners Defenders counted 1,214 political prisoners in Cuba at the end of February 2026.
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