Star Metro - Cuba frees jailed protesters in Biden terror list deal

Biden's eleventh-hour outreach to Cuba is part of a series of actions designed to cement his legacy before handing power next Monday to Donald Trump.

The agreement brought joy to the families of Cubans held since 2021 for demonstrating over recurring power blackouts, food shortages and soaring prices.

A first group of around 20 prisoners were released on Wednesday, their families and NGOs told AFP.

The delisting paves the way for increased US investment in the Caribbean island, which has been under a US trade embargo for over six decades.

But in a sign that the thaw may be short-lived, Trump's pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, suggested he could reverse Biden's decision.

- 'Literally collapsing' -

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, who is vociferously opposed to Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, said Trump's incoming administration was not bound by Biden's policies.

"Cuba is literally collapsing," Rubio told his US Senate confirmation hearing, calling it a "fourth-world country" run by "corrupt" and "inept" Marxists.

"There is zero doubt in my mind that they meet all the qualifications for being a state sponsor of terrorism," he said.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez admitted that Biden's decision to undo the terror designation levied by Trump during the last days of his first presidency could be reversed.

But he argued that the repeated addition and removal of Cuba to the list by successive US administrations had robbed it of its meaning, turning it into a "vulgar instrument of political coercion."

- Families' joy -

Under the deal brokered by the Vatican, Cuba promised to release 553 prisoners, which a senior US official said included "political prisoners" and others "detained unjustly."

Vatican number two Cardinal Pietro Parolin said it was "significant" that Havana had responded to an appeal by Pope Francis for clemency.

Social media in Cuba lit up on Wednesday morning with relatives and friends of prisoners confirming their loved ones had been released.

"We received a call yesterday evening to go to the prison today," Rosabel Loreto, daughter-in-law of prisoner Donaida Perez Paseiro, told AFP.

Perez Paseiro had been sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for participating with thousands of others in the 2021 protests -- the biggest in Cuba since the revolution, which Havana accused Washington of orchestrating.

In a video posted on social media, she vowed to continue to "fight for Cuba's freedom."

In Havana, a woman who asked to remain anonymous said her husband remained behind bars for demonstrating against the government, but her daughter -- who had been arrested on the same charges -- was freed Wednesday.

The Miami-based Cuban NGO Cubalex said it had confirmed the release of 20 people, all jailed.

According to official Cuban figures, some 500 protesters were given sentences of up to 25 years in prison, but rights groups and the US Embassy say the figure is closer to 1,000.

- 'Detained unjustly' -

With authorities providing no list of those due for release, many prisoners' families were still anxiously waiting for news of their relatives.

Liset Fonseca, mother of 41-year-old Roberto Perez, who is serving a 10-year jail term for joining the 2021 protests, said she had no news of his possible release.

Havana on Tuesday had welcomed its removal from the terrorism sponsor listing as a step in the "right direction," but lamented that the trade embargo was still in place.

Cuba blames the blockade for its worst economic crisis in decades, which has seen hundreds of thousands of people emigrate to the United States in the last two years, either legally or illegally, according to US figures.

Trump's first presidential term from 2017 to 2021 saw a tightening of sanctions against Cuba that had been loosened during a period of detente under his predecessor Barack Obama.

Before assuming office, Biden had promised changes in US policy towards the island, but held off after Havana's 2021 crackdown.

V.Watson--SMC