Cuba announces release of 51 prisoners after talks with Vatican

HAVANA - Cuba said Thursday that it would soon release 51 prisoners as a sign of "good will" toward the Vatican after talks between Cuban officials and the Holy See.

The announcement by the foreign ministry comes at a time of rising tensions between the Caribbean island's communist leaders and the United States, and the Vatican has often tried to act as a mediator between the two countries.

"In a spirit of goodwill, and close... relations between the Cuban state and the Vatican," the foreign ministry said, "Cuba has decided to release in the coming days 51 prisoners."

It did not provide details of the Vatican talks nor identify the prisoners and their crimes, saying only that they had served "a major part of their sentences" and had shown good conduct in prison.

"This sovereign decision is a regular feature of our criminal justice system," it added.

The Catholic Church is a fixture of Cuban society even though it was officially atheist for three decades, and its leaders have often mediated between Cuba and Washington when tensions flared.

US President Donald Trump said last week that Cuba was next on his agenda after Iran, predicting that the communist-run island, crippled by a US energy blockade, is "gonna fall pretty soon."

His predecessor Joe Biden, just before leaving office in January 2025, removed Cuba from a US list of state terror sponsors in return for the communist island agreeing to free 553 prisoners in a deal also mediated by the Vatican.

Trump later reversed the deal but Cuba said it had nonetheless released all the prisoners, including 231 considered political prisoners by rights groups after their arrests during mass anti-government protests in 2021.

In February, Pope Leo XIV expressed "great concern" about rising tensions between Cuba and the United States, calling on all sides to "avoid violence."