Just nature of Cuba’s penal and penitentiary systems underscored

Havana, Jan 15 (Prensa Latina) The Cuban Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the decision to release 553 people who were serving sentences was made as part of the just and humanitarian nature of the country's penal and penitentiary systems.

January 15, 2025
00:16

The measure, taken in the spirit of the 2025 Ordinary Jubilee, took into account a careful analysis based on the different modalities contemplated by the law, the Foreign Ministry noted in a statement on its website.

It indicated that as part of the close bilateral ties with the Vatican, the Cuban Government of the Caribbean country has maintained communication with the Supreme Pontiff and his representatives, on processes of review and release of persons deprived of freedom.

“As a manifestation of this practice and under the provisions of national legislation, more than 10,000 people who were sentenced to deprivation of freedom were released between 2023 and 2024 with different types of benefits provided for by law,” it stressed.

The Foreign Ministry recalled that in June 2023, President Miguel Díaz-Canel visited the Vatican and met with Pope Francis, a meeting that was preceded by another one between the Supreme Pontiff and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez in August 2022.

According to the Foreign Ministry, “among other matters of mutual interest and international events, information on this topic was conveyed in these meetings and the unjust nature and harmful effect of the United States policy on Cuba was discussed in depth.”

The statement stressed that the Pope has given clear signs of sympathy and affection towards the Cuban people.

In addition, it explained that in the first days of January, the Cuban president sent a letter to the Pope in which, in the spirit of the 2025 Ordinary Jubilee declared by His Holiness and which has just begun, he communicated the decision to benefit 553 people convicted of various crimes with the granting of freedom.

The Foreign Ministry assured that Cuba maintains a respectful, frank and constructive relationship with the Vatican and the Supreme Pontiff, “which facilitates decisions such as the one recently made, within the requirements established by current legislation, the humanitarian sense of the Cuban justice system and compliance with obligations with internal order and citizen security.”

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