Cuba will release the first prisoners following the agreement.

Cuba has begun releasing the first of hundreds of prisoners it agreed to release following a deal with the United States.

In an agreement brokered by the Catholic Church, President Joe Biden removed Cuba from the list of US sponsors of terrorism a few days before the end of his term.

In response, the Cuban government said it would release 553 people in 2021 for anti-government protests on the communist-ruled island.

While Havana has cautiously embraced the deal, there are doubts about how long it will last after President-elect Donald Trump hinted that his pick for Secretary of State Marco Rubio might be reversed.

At a Senate nomination hearing Wednesday, Rubio said, referring to some of the sanctions the Biden administration lifted on Tuesday, “the new administration is not bound by this decision.”

Earlier, Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said on Fox News, “We can roll back anything they (the Biden administration) are doing right now, and nobody should be under any illusions about that changing.” Cuban Policy”.

Despite skepticism by Trump administration officials, Cuba released nearly 20 prisoners on Wednesday, local NGOs said.

One of those freed, 53-year-old Donaida Perez Passeiro, was sentenced to eight years in prison for taking part in anti-government protests in 2021, during which citizens called on the Cuban government to do more to address widespread food shortages and malnutrition. Low rolling rates.

In a video posted on social media by Ms. Pérez Paceiro, the Cuban government used her and other prisoners as “bargaining leverage” to get Cuba off the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

In the recording, she said that she would continue to “fight for the freedom of Cuba.”

Dariel Cruz Garcia was among those released Wednesday.

The 23-year-old was sentenced to 15 years in prison for rioting after joining the 2021 protests.

He told Reuters that authorities had announced the rest of the sentence – reduced since his earlier conviction – at his home.

“I escaped from hell to be with my family. I’ll make myself move forward,” he told the news agency.

Marisela Sosa, vice president of Cuba’s Supreme Court, said on television that the released people had not been pardoned or pardoned, and warned that they could be re-arrested if they violated the amnesty.

Hundreds of families are still waiting for news to find out if their relatives will be among the 553 the government agreed to evacuate.

Dariel Cruz Garcia’s mother told Reuters: “They are all anxiously waiting for a call from their children, and they are desperate.