by Ben Whedon
The government of Cuba plans to release more than 2,000 prisoners as a humanitarian gesture as the Trump administration ramps up its efforts to pressure Havana into capitulating.
“As part of the process for granting prison benefits established by law and in accordance with Article 90, Section II, of the Constitution of the Republic, it was decided to release 2,010 inmates through a pardon approved by the Government of Cuba,” the Cuban government posted on X.
Havana characterized the development as part of a regular practice amid Holy Week.
“This is the second release of prisoners this year, taking place in the context of the religious celebrations of Holy Week, which is a customary practice in our criminal justice system and part of the trajectory,” the government posted.
President Donald Trump, for his part, has hinted at what he called a “friendly takeover” of Cuba and repeatedly suggested that the communist regime’s days are numbered. He has not, however, significantly elaborated on plans to end the regime.
After the Venezuela raid in January that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “I’m not going to talk to you about what our future steps are going to be and our policies are going to be right now in this regard,” Rubio said. “But I don’t think it’s any mystery that we are not big fans of the Cuban regime, who, by the way, are the ones that were propping up Maduro.”
“It was Cubans that guarded Maduro,” the secretary of state told NBC News. “He was not guarded by Venezuelan bodyguards. He had Cuban bodyguards.”
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
