Havana/Little by little, without official information and through, above all, social networks, the names of prisoners released in Cuba are coming to light as part of the regime’s agreement with the Vatican that has allowed the United States to lift part of the sanctions against the Island, among them, its inclusion in the list of countries sponsoring terrorismfrom which it was taken this Tuesday. There are a total of 553, but of them there are no further detailsnor for what crimes they were convicted, nor if they are indeed political prisoners.
This same Wednesday, the vice president of the Supreme People’s Court, Maricela Sosa Raveloclarified on state television that the measure is not an amnesty or a pardon, words that, in fact, do not appear in the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to the official’s explanation, the amnesty and pardon “entail the total extinction of the sanction”, something that does not happen in these cases.
In an interview with regime spokesman Humberto López, Ravelo said that, on the contrary, these prisoners have been given “early release benefits.” If they do not comply with their “obligations,” he warned, they could return to prison. Those on the list were prosecuted for “dissimilar” crimes. And he listed: “Patrimonial crimes such as crimes of theft, robbery with force. There are threats, there are injuries, there are disorders. There are also some people who were punished for sedition, but sedition is not a political crime.”
The crime of sedition, for example, was charged to the protesters of July 11, 2021 (11J) who received the highest sentences, up to 20 years in prison (although in some cases was later reduced).
Here are the released prisoners known so far.
