A famous Cuban dissident will be released...part of the easing of U.S. sanctions

Jose Daniel Ferrer, 54, a prominent Cuban dissident and human rights activist, has been released after years in prison for anti-government protests, foreign media said.

Ferrer told the Associated Press on the 16th local time that he was released from prison and at home, "in good health, and I have the courage to continue fighting for Cuba's freedom."

Ferrer's release was one of the results of prior negotiations over the removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism by the U.S. government, foreign media said.

The Cuban government, Miguel Diaz-Canel, said on the 14th that it had sent a letter to the Vatican to gradually release 553 prisoners "who have been imprisoned for various crimes" for the 2025 Catholic Jubilee.

Ferrer, the leader of the Cuban Patriotic Union (UNPACU), is an active figure who rebelled against the Cuban communist system.

Born in eastern Santiago and a fisherman, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2003 and has been a "political prisoner" for more than 20 years, growing up to be Cuba's leading opposition politician.

Shortly after he was freed in 2011 from Catholic mediation with 130 other political prisoners, he was also pressured by the Cuban government to leave the country and seek asylum.

In 2019, during the first Trump administration, there were allegations that the U.S. was funding Ferrer through the embassy in Havana, and there was also a backlash from the Cuban government to "stop internal interference immediately."

Cuban human rights groups said more than 20 people have regained their freedom since the 14th.

Most of them were people who took part in large anti-government protests in July 2021 to protest repeated blackouts and food shortages, AFP explained.

Some predict that the thaw will not last long amid the prospect of smooth trade and funding transactions with Cuba.

Marko Rubio, the nominee for secretary of state for the second Trump administration, confirmed Cuba at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing the day before, hinting that the Biden administration could reverse its policy of lifting the state sponsor of terrorism.