Cuba releases a prominent dissident as part of plan to free more than 500 prisoners

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba on Thursday released prominent dissident José Daniel Ferrer from prison, as part of a government decision to gradually free more than 500 prisoners following talks with the Vatican.

Ferrer, a strong opponent of the island’s communist government, confirmed to The Associated Press he was freed and that he was at home in Palma Soriano, a town in the province of Santiago, more than 600 miles east of Havana.

“I am fine, surrounded by family and friends,” he said by phone. “I had been arbitrarily imprisoned for the third time, and a false judicial process had been set up.”

The releases are also taking place days after U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration announced his intent to lift the U.S. designation of the island nation as a state sponsor of terrorism.

On Tuesday, the U.S. government said it notified Congress about the intent to lift the designation of Cuba as part of a deal facilitated by the Catholic Church, and that Cuban authorities would release some of them by the end of the Biden administration at noon on Jan. 20.

Cuba then informed Pope Francis it would gradually release 553 convicts as authorities explore the legal and humanitarian ways to make it happen. Havana said, however, that the gesture to the pontiff is unrelated to the U.S. decision to lift the designation.

Cuban civil groups monitoring the cases of detainees on the island say Cuba has released about 30 people in the past two days, including Ferrer.

In 2020, after being in prison for six months, Ferrer was placed under house arrest after a court sentenced him to 4 1/2 years for assault and kidnapping. But then in 2021 he was sent back to jail after participating in historic, widespread protests over food shortages and power outages amid a severe economic crisis.

Ferrer, director of the political organization Patriotic Union of Cuba, said that he’s already thinking of continuing his fight for democracy.

“I am going to meet up with my friends and my brothers (in the cause) now,” he said. “And I am going to continue the non-violent struggle for freedom and democracy.”

____

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Andrea Rodríguez, The Associated Press