Cuba releases 53 prisoners and improves US relations

Cuba has released all 53 prisoners it had promised to free, senior US officials have said, a major step toward détente with Washington.

The release of the remaining prisoners sets a positive tone for historic talks next week aimed at normalising relations after decades of hostility, the officials said.

They described the Cuban government’s release over the weekend of the last detainees on the list as a milestone but said they would keep pressing Havana to free more people the US considers political prisoners.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not say how many prisoners were released over the weekend or identify them. But the White House will give the names to Congress and expects politicians to make them public, the officials added. There had been questions over whether Havana would release all 53 prisoners as part of the deal presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced on December 17 to restore diplomatic ties that Washington severed more than 50 years ago.

Intense secrecy surrounding the 53, whose names have been withheld by both countries, had fuelled scepticism over Cuba’s intentions and played to critics who said Washington hasn’t pressured Havana enough on human rights in exchange for normalising ties and loosening economic and travel restrictions.

The US exchanged three convicted Cuban spies for an agent who had spied for the US government. The United States also received Alan Gross, a US aid worker jailed in Cuba.

The Cuban government informed the Obama administration over the weekend that the last of those on the list of prisoners had been released, and the US Interests Section in Havana, which handles consular affairs and other contacts for Washington, confirmed it, the officials said.

The US officials said they would pressure communist-ruled Cuba to release more prisoners.

“The fact of the matter is there are other individuals whose cases we have raised in the past,” one official said.

Cuba’s government says there are no political prisoners on the island and typically describes dissidents as US-paid mercenaries.

Cuban dissidents said they had not received word that the prisoner release was complete and only knew of up to 39 people freed since December 17, including a popular hip-hop singer.