By Dave Sherwood
HAVANA, April 2 (Reuters) – Cuba late on Thursday said it would free more than 2,000 prisoners from the island’s jails, the second time this year its communist-run government has announced a prisoner amnesty amid talks with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Cuba’s state-run Granma newspaper called the measure a “humanitarian and sovereign gesture.”
The Cuban government has consistently rejected any suggestion it makes decisions under U.S. pressure. The timing of Thursday’s announcement, however, coincides with the most intense pressure campaign applied by Washington in decades.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The decision to free 2,010 prisoners “stemmed from a careful analysis of the crimes committed by those convicted, their good conduct in prison, the fact that they had served a significant portion of their sentence, and their state of health,” state media said.
Several categories of criminal offenders, including those jailed for committing murder, drug-related crimes and pedophiles, were excluded from the release, the report said. Also excluded were “crimes against authority.”
It was unclear how many of the prisoners subject to release following Thursday’s announcement have been held on charges related to anti-government protests. Many high-profile dissidents, and some protesters from island-wide July 11 protests, have been freed in recent agreements and amnesties announced by the Cuban government.
In the past, the prisoners have been released to their families with little fanfare and are reticent to speak with the press. The Cuban government does not typically publish lists of those slated to be freed.
Thursday’s amnesty announcement, the largest in years, comes one day after Cuba’s top diplomat in Washington publicly invited the U.S. government to help overhaul Cuba’s crippled economy as part of ongoing negotiations.
Cuba earlier in March freed 51 prisoners under an agreement with the Vatican. Neither the Vatican nor the U.S. negotiations were mentioned by the Cuban state-run media outlining Thursday evening’s announcement.
RIGHTS GROUPS WATCHING
Human rights groups – some financed by the U.S. government – say the island’s Communist government is holding hundreds of political prisoners, with estimates varying. On Thursday, several such groups released statements saying they would be closely following next steps.
“The process should be agile, transparent and should include the totality of political prisoners,” said the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights, a Madrid-based group that has received U.S. funding.
At least some of those released in March, the rights groups said, were among those they considered to be “political prisoners.”
Cuba has repeatedly denied it holds political prisoners. Island authorities say those jailed during anti-government protests are found guilty of crimes including public disorder, resisting arrest, robbery and vandalism.
Cuba blames the U.S. for funding the unrest and encouraging its spread, part of a broader plot to overthrow the island’s government.
(Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Shri Navaratnam and Sharon Singleton)
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