HAVANA (AP) — In a surprising announcement Thursday evening, Cuban officials revealed plans to free 51 inmates from the nation’s correctional facilities.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the prisoner releases scheduled for the coming days reflect goodwill gestures and strong ties with the Vatican.
Officials declined to name specific individuals set for release, stating only that “all have served a significant part of their sentence and have maintained good conduct in prison.”
The prison release news came just hours before Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel was set to hold a rare Friday morning press conference “to address national and international issues.”
Cuban authorities reported granting clemency to 9,905 prisoners since 2010, with an additional 10,000 sentenced individuals gaining freedom over the last three years.
Earlier this year in January 2025, Cuba freed well-known opposition figure José Daniel Ferrer through a government initiative to gradually release over 500 detainees following Vatican negotiations.
Ferrer departed Cuba last October and currently resides in the United States.
His release was among several that occurred in early 2025 through Vatican-mediated discussions. These prisoner releases started one day after the Biden administration revealed plans to remove Cuba’s designation as a terrorism-sponsoring state.
Officials have not disclosed whether any political detainees are included among the 51 individuals planned for release.
The advocacy organization Prisoners Defenders reported 1,214 political detainees remained in Cuban custody as of February 2026.
