A leading Cuban dissident and activist has been released from jail as part of a wider prisoner release deal between the Cuban government and the United States.
Jose Daniel Ferrer spent more than three years in prison following anti-government protests that swept through the Communist-run island in 2021.
Under the agreement brokered by the Catholic Church, outgoing US President Joe Biden removed Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism just days before the end of his term.
In return, Cuba said it would free 553 people, many of whom were detained during the anti-government protests.
The island began releasing the first of hundreds of prisoners on Wednesday, freeing about 20 people, according to local NGOs.
Ferrer is one of the most recognised names among Cuban dissidents and pro-democracy activists. The 54-year-old leader of Cuba’s Patriotic Union (Unpacu), an opposition group in the country, was jailed and charged with public disorder following the 2021 protests.
“I am at home, in fair health, but with the courage to continue fighting for the freedom of Cuba,” Ferrer told Reuters in a phone conversation.
Many of the prisoners released this week were arrested in association with 2021 protests, during which citizens demanded that the Cuban government do more to ease widespread food shortages and lower spiralling prices.
Biden’s move to remove Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism came just days ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, has been critical of the decision to ease sanctions on Cuba, hinting that it could be reversed.
Speaking at his Senate nomination hearing on Wednesday, Rubio said referring to some of the sanctions on Cuba that the Biden administration rescinded on Tuesday that “the new administration is not bound by that decision”.
Earlier, Trump’s choice for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said on Fox News that “anything [the Biden administration] are doing right now, we can do back, and no-one should be under any illusion in terms of a change in Cuba policy”.
The Cuban government says the island’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism is deeply unjust and aimed at harming its economy by making it impossible for Cuba to access international banking credits.
