Cuba started freeing prisoners as part of a deal brokered by the Vatican just a day after the Biden administration announced plans to lift the U.S. designation of the island as a state sponsor of terrorism, a decision that could be short-lived given the government change.
More than a dozen individuals, including some detained following the historic 2021 protests, were freed on Wednesday, according to civil groups tracking detainee cases. Among them was Reyna Yacnara Barreto Batista, a 24-year-old tattoo artist sentenced to four years in prison for public disorder during the protests. Speaking from her home in Camagüey, she told The Associated Press she was released along with eight men.
