Two high-ranking Biden administration officials asked Cuban authorities to release political prisoners during a meeting this week in Havana to discuss migration issues, including the resumption of visa services at the U.S. Embassy in the Cuban capital.
According to a statement put out by the embassy Thursday, the State Department Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Rena Bitter “expressed concern to Cuban officials about the human rights situation and urged the government to unconditionally release all political prisoners.”
At the end of September, Prisoners Defenders, an advocacy organization based in Madrid, listed 1,026 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Cuba, including many participants in the anti-government protests in July last year. That number has likely grown as Cuban authorities imprisoned protesters during demonstrations following the devastation left by Hurricane Ian in western Cuba.
