- Title: REFILE: Trump order leaves Cuba prisoner deal in limbo
- Date: 21st January 2025
- Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (JANUARY 21, 2025) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RELEASED PRISONER FROM THE JULY 11, 2021 (11J) PROTESTS, KAREN VAZQUEZ, HANGING CLOTHES IN HER YARD VAZQUEZ ENTERING HER LIVING ROOM VAZQUEZ LIGHTING A CIGARETTE VAZQUEZ INSIDE HER HOME (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RELEASED PRISONER FROM THE JULY 11, 2021 (11J) PROTESTS, KAREN VAZQUEZ, SAYING: "It's something very uncertain, we
- Embargoed: 4th February 2025 19:51
- Keywords: Cuba Prisoners release Trump U.S. list of States sponsors of Terrorism
- Location: HAVANA, CUBA / INTERNET
- City: HAVANA, CUBA / INTERNET
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: South America / Central America,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001519921012025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Karen Vasquez, 44, walked out of jail in Cuba on Sunday (January 19), part of a deal brokered by the Vatican under which the Biden administration would loosen sanctions on the communist-run island, while Havana would release more than 500 people from its jails who are considered political prisoners by Washington.
Vasquez was still celebrating on Monday when she heard that U.S. president Donald Trump had reversed the Biden administration's decision last week to remove Cuba from its terrorism blacklist. Removal from the list appeared aimed as a step in rolling back sanctions.
The Trump executive order, issued among a flurry of orders within hours of his inauguration on Monday, has left the broader deal with Cuba in limbo.
"I don't know much about politics, but yes, this scares me," said Vasquez, who lives in a precarious three-room house in La Guinera, a poor neighborhood outside Havana.
She was convicted of sedition and sentenced to seven years in prison for her part in unprecedented island-wide protests in July 2021. The U.S., Europe and human rights watchdogs consider Vasquez and others to be political prisoners, a characterization rejected by the Cuban government.
"We're on probation," Vasquez said in an interview with Reuters following the Trump announcement. "I don't really know what could happen."
Cuba on Tuesday blasted Trump's decision, calling it "a demonstration of the aggressiveness of U.S. imperialism."
It has not said what measures, if any, it might take in response.
Cuba's government did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.
Cuba has so far released around 150 prisoners, around one-quarter of the 553 it had promised to free, according to tallies conducted by human rights groups. Most of those released had been jailed in connection with the July 2021 protests, considered the largest since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution.
Neither Cuba nor the United States, long-standing foes, have acknowledged negotiations, nor has either country detailed the specific terms of any agreement struck.
The prisoner release deal, Cuba said last week, was a "unilateral and sovereign" act that followed discussions with the Vatican.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm on Tuesday whether Cuba had released any prisoners following the Trump announcement.
Katia Beirut, of La Guinera, said she was freed last week after serving three years in jail and work camps. She was convicted of sedition for her role in the 2021 protests.
She said she had been unaware of Trump's decision, but wanted to move on with her life.
"I want to keep a low profile," she said. "I want to enjoy my family after all this time I was without them."
(Production: Mario Fuentes, Hugo Monnet) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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