Cuba has freed “some” of 53 political prisoners that it agreed to release in its deal to normalize relations with the United States, the State Department acknowledged today.
“They have already released some of the prisoners,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, saying she would not provide a specific number. “We would like to see this completed in the near future.”
Until today, Havana and the Obama administration had refused to reveal the fate of the dissidents.
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The U.S. government still won’t publicly identify the names of the prisoners.
On Monday, Psaki expressed doubts that the the identities on the list would ever become public.
“Well, we know who’s on there,” Psaki said. “And the Cuban government knows who’s on there.”
The United States wants the remaining prisoners to be released soon, she added.
Their agreed upon release was part of Obama’s Dec. 17 announcement that he planned to restore “full diplomatic relations” with Cuba after five decades of hostile relations with the island.
