South Florida politicians and experts react to Cuba's latest move to release 51 prisoners from the island
South Florida politicians and experts on Cuba react to the island's latest unexpected move to release 51 people from prison on Thursday night. The announcement was made just hours before Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel is scheduled to speak early Friday in another rare televised appearance "to address national and international issues."
Dr. Andy Gomez, the professor of Cuban studies at the University of Miami, has studied the Cuban conflict for years.
He says that we still need to see who these prisoners are to determine what this announcement could mean. However, he says no matter what, he believes this is something positive and that he is cautiously optimistic.
"I think they just made a first step, if you will, of good faith, showing the United States that they're willing to do something," Dr. Gomez said.
In Cuba's social media post about the prisoners' release, it says the nation has pardoned more than 9,900 people and sanctioned at least 10,000 others since 2010.
This announcement about the release of prisoners comes as the nation is in a humanitarian and economic crisis.
As for Diaz-Canel's televised speech, it is still unclear what he is going to say since this is something that doesn't occur on the island.
"The last time that I can recall at 7:30 in the morning that an announcement like this was made was when Raúl Castro announced that Fidel was dead," Dr. Gomez said.
South Florida representatives Carlos Gimenez and Maria Elvira Salazar also reacted to the release of the prisoners on X.
Congressman Gimenez posted: "There are literally THOUSANDS of political prisoners unjustly detained in Cuba for simply listing on Facebook or for shouting the word 'freedom'! We demand the immediate release of ALL political prisoners & the END of this despicable regime."
On the other hand, Congresswoman Salazar posted: "The murderous Cuban dictatorship needs to pack up and leave Cuba now! Or end up in a 2x3 cell like their buddy Nicolas Maduro."
The announcement from Diaz-Canel is expected to happen Friday morning at 7:30 a.m.