The NGO laments that the number is still only half of what they promised: “We are on top of the regime. We will not let them lie to the Church, nor, of course, to the people of Cuba
14ymedio/EFE, Havana, March 30, 2026 / The Cuban government has released two more political prisoners under the agreement announced by the Cuban regime with the Vatican for the release of 51 prisoners, according to an announcement by the NGO Prisoners Defenders this Sunday.
One of them is Evelio Luis Herrera Duvergel, 25, who was sentenced to seven years in prison – which he was serving in the Quivicán prison in Mayabeque – for participating in the anti-government protests of 11 July 2021 [’11J’]. The other, Jarol Varona Agüero, 52, was in El Típico prison in Las Tunas, serving a 13-year sentence for “propaganda against the constitutional order” for calling for a protest on Facebook that never took place.
With these decisions, the number of political prisoners released has risen to 25, less than half. “We demand the release of all political prisoners in Cuba,” the NGO stated. “We are on top of the regime. We will not let them lie to the Church, nor, of course, to the Cuban people,” it added in a publication that included the updated list.
Most of those released so far participated in the Island-wide anti-government protests of 11 June 2021 and were serving sentences of between six and 18 years in prison for crimes such as public disorder, contempt, assault and sedition.
Most of those released so far participated in the anti-government protests of July 11 and were serving sentences of between six and 18 years in prison for crimes such as public disorder, contempt, assault and sedition
PD criticized, this week, on social media that only some of the 51 beneficiaries of the measure are political prisoners and stressed that something similar happened in the January 2025 process when “only 40%” (219) of the 553 released prisoners were political prisoners, while the rest “were common prisoners.”
He also reported that among the released common prisoners “there is at least one with a murder on his record,” as well as other people convicted of “robbery and other common crimes”.
The first releases in this process coincided with the announcement by the Cuban Executive that it had begun a dialogue with representatives of the US Administration, although Havana has never linked the two issues.
These releases are not pardons, but a benefit that allows the prisoner to leave the penitentiary even though the sentence has not been extinguished (a measure that is conditioned on compliance with certain requirements during the remaining time of the sentence).
Cuba ended February with 1,214 people detained for political reasons, according to PD’s latest monthly report, the highest number since the organization began documenting the prison situation on the island.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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