Cuba has freed 127 prisoners, including opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer, in a landmark deal with departing US President Joe Biden that has led to emotional reunions across the communist island.
Ferrer, 54, is the most high-profile of the prisoners that Cuba began freeing on Wednesday after Biden agreed to remove the country from Washington’s list of terrorism sponsors — part of an eleventh-hour bid to cement his legacy before handing power on Monday to US president-elect Donald Trump.
“Thank God we have him home,” Nelva Ortega said of her husband, Ferrer, who has been in and out of prison for the past two decades.
Photo: AFP
His latest stint lasted three-and-a-half years.
Shortly after his release on Thursday, Ferrer urged Cubans on a Miami-based radio program to “not be afraid” to stand up to a government he said was “increasingly scared” and “increasingly weak.”
In return for being removed from the US terror list that includes North Korea, Iran and Syria, cash-strapped Cuba promised to release 553 people — many of whom the Biden administration said were “political prisoners.”
Most were arrested for taking part in mass July 2021 demonstrations against the government over recurring power outages, food shortages and price hikes.
Cuban Supreme Court Vice President Maricela Sosa said that “between Wednesday and Thursday 127 [detainees] have been granted early release.”
Reporters on Thursday saw four prisoners emerge from the San Miguel del Padron prison on the outskirts of the capital, Havana.
Marlon Brando Diaz, who was serving an 18-year sentence for his participation in the 2021 protests, said tearfully that he was thankful for “a new chance in life.”
“It’s a new start,” he said, as he hugged emotional family members.
The deal with Washington paves the way for increased US investment in the Caribbean island, which has been under a trade embargo for more than six decades.
However, in a sign that the thaw might be short-lived, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, suggested Biden’s decision could be reversed.
The son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio is vociferously critical of that country’s government and said Trump’s incoming administration was not bound by Biden’s policies.
“There is zero doubt in my mind that they [the Cuban government] meet all the qualifications for being a state sponsor of terrorism,” he said at his US Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
The trickle of prisoner releases caused anguish for families still waiting for news of their loved ones.
Authorities have not released a list or a timetable of those to be freed.
Analysts said Cuba could be stalling to ensure Trump upholds the deal when he returns to the White House next week, with the remaining prisoners serving as a bargaining chip.
If so, “it’s a pretty risky move,” said Michael Bustamante, chair of Cuban studies at the University of Miami. “The Trump administration might not take kindly to this game at all.”
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