Cuba announces pardon for more than 2,000 prisoners

Cuba’s government said on Friday that it has pardoned over 2000 prisoners as a humanitarian gesture. The release during the Easter Holy Week followed pledges made in March to free prisoners as the United States increases pressure on Cuba’s leadership.

Cuba’s state-run Granma newspaper said that the government’s decision stemmed from a careful analysis of the crimes committed by those convicted and their ‌good conduct in prison. The Cuban government had consistently rejected any suggestion that it made decisions under US pressure and also denied holding political prisoners. But the timing of Friday’s announcement coincided with the most intense pressure campaign applied by Washington in decades.