Overview
- Cuba, which announced the pardon Thursday, began freeing people the next day as reporters saw about 20 leave a prison near Havana.
- Officials released no names or case details and said those pardoned had served a large part of their sentences and showed good conduct.
- The measure excludes repeat offenders and people convicted of sexual assault, crimes against minors, murder, drug trafficking, violent robbery, or offenses against authority.
- Authorities called this the fifth such pardon since 2011, bringing total beneficiaries over the years to more than 11,000.
- In mid-March, Havana said 51 releases would proceed under Vatican auspices, and a rights group reported 14 detainees from the July 2021 protests were set to go free as U.S. talks resumed and Russian oil shipments restarted, a sequence analysts say may reflect sensitive diplomacy.