Cuba announced on Tuesday that it would release 553 of its prisoners in response to Washington’s decision to remove the socialist nation from its record of terrorist sponsors in a move welcomed by relatives of protesters in jail.
In one of his final standard works before Donald Trump sworn in as president on Monday, the White House announced that President Joe Biden was removing Cuba from the roster of state sponsors of terrorism.
Trump, who reinstated Cuba’s evil title in the last days of his first term in office in 2021, is likely to overturn the decision.
” An evaluation has been completed, and we do not include information that supports Cuba’s title as being a status partner of terrorism”, a senior Biden administration official told investigators.
The standard continued,” The offer was negotiated with the assistance of the Catholic Church for the transfer of political prisoners in Cuba and those who have been detained unfairly.”
Family people of imprisoned protesters hailed the news, including Liset Fonseca, family of 41-year-old Roberto Perez, sentenced to 10 years ‘ prison.
In July 2021, he and hundreds of different Cubans participated in anti-government demonstrations, which were fueled by power outages and rising food prices.
” All the mother of captives want our children to become free and to escape the heaven that is Cuba’s prison.” They should never have been in incarceration”, Fonseca told AFP.
One person was killed and dozens injured in the rallies, which Havana accused Washington of organizing.
According to standard Caribbean characters, some 500 people were given sentences of up to 25 years in prison for participating, but right organizations and the US embassy say the figure is closer to 1, 000.
Some have already been released after serving their words.
– ‘ Various crimes’-
Cuba reacted to Washington’s statement on Tuesday as a” correct stage,” but lamented that it had been subject to US sanctions since 1962.
The foreign government later announced that 553 citizens imprisoned for “diverse offences” may be released.
Cuba blames the US siege for its worst economic crises in years, marked by shortages of gas, food, medicines and power.
In Trump’s first presidential campaign, restrictions against Cuba were tightened after his predecessor, Barack Obama, had been in place during a detente time.
Before assuming office, Biden had promised shifts in US policy towards the beach, but postponed these after Havana’s assault on the 2021 demonstrations.
Experts say the Covid-19 crisis, which tanked commerce, and economic mismanagement by the authorities have contributed significantly to the bad state of the economy.
But Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel has described US punishment as “genocidal” and said his country was prepared for “more hard circumstances” after Trump’s vote.
The incoming government’s allies quickly criticized Biden over Tuesday’s statement, with Ted Cruz– a Cuban-American part of the US Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee– calling it a “rank appeasement of the Caribbean regime”.
Trump has chosen Senator Marco Rubio to be his secretary of state. Rubio is a Cuban-American who has a strong anti-communist sentiment.
Biden may even waive a portion of the so-called Libertad Act, which is the basis for the US sanctions on Cuba, according to a White House speech.
Biden would likewise rescind a policy from the Trump administration called” National Security Presidential Memorandum 5,” which would end restrictions on economic dealing with specific Cuban entities.
Colombia’s communist President Gustavo Petro and a social group made up of the region’s apprehended ex-FARC guerrilla group, welcomed the White House statement.
From 2012 to 2016, Cuba hosted the discussions that saw the FARC agree to drop down weapons.
