The United States has given an ultimatum to Cuba to release high-profile political prisoners in two weeks. The demand was reportedly presented during a secret meeting in Cuba on April 10.
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Osorbo, dissident artists from the San Isidro movement who were sentenced in 2022, were some of the names on the list for release.
During the US delegation’s visit to Cuba, officials held a separate meeting with former Cuban leader Raúl Castro’s grandson.
Since 2016, it was the first time that a US government plane had landed in Cuba.
Following the capture of Venezuela’s leader in January, US-Cuba relations have deteriorated sharply. The Trump administration has tightened economic sanctions and throttled oil shipments to the island, signalling a renewed push for regime change. Amidst this pressure, Trump has warned of a possible hostile takeover, marking the highest level of tension between the two nations in decades.
Nationwide blackouts and severe fuel shortages, intensified by a US oil blockade, have driven political tensions to a breaking point in the Caribbean nation.
Trump has been working to remove Cuba’s current leader, President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
At the meeting, the US proposed to bring Starlink’s high-speed internet services to Cuba. But the officials said Havana needs to enact reforms that will make Cuba’s economy more competitive and attractive to foreign investment.
Washington is pressing for the release of Cuban political prisoners to promote human rights and democratic activism amid the island’s economic crisis. Under this pressure, Cuba initiated the release of 2,010 inmates last month, framing the move as a ‘humanitarian and sovereign gesture.
Cuba holds hundreds of political prisoners behind bars, according to Human Rights Watch.
It is the second time this year that Cuba has announced a prisoner release. In March, 51 prisoners were set free after talks with the Vatican.
In 2025, Cuba released 553 people in a deal brokered by the Vatican and the US.
Díaz-Canel has blamed US sanctions and an ongoing oil blockade for crippling Cuba’s economy by limiting the country’s access to fuel, food, medicine, and international financing.
Those freed will include foreign nationals, young people, women and those aged over 60, a statement from the Cuban embassy in the US.
