Cuba has announced that it will release from prison 553 people “convicted of various crimes.” The decision was communicated to Pope Francis earlier this month in a letter from Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel, who indicated that the release of prisoners was made “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025.”
A statement from Cuba’s foreign ministry notes that the prisoner release takes place in the context of the “close and fluid relations with the Vatican State” and outlines contacts between the country and the Vatican over the course of the past few years.
The statement notes in particular the meeting between Pope Francis and President Díaz-Canel in August 2022, in which the plight of prisoners, as well as US policy toward Cuba, was discussed.
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