Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Friday that the announced release of 51 prisoners in Cuba is welcome news but that the communist government continues to arrest and detain those who speak out against the regime.
“For generations, the Cuban dictatorship has silenced dissent through repression and persecution against those who dare to think differently or speak out for freedom," she said in a statement. "
"For families who have waited years to see their loved ones free, this moment brings relief and long-awaited hope," she said. "But it does not change the fact that people in Cuba are still imprisoned for their beliefs."
"True justice will come when no one in Cuba is jailed for demanding their basic rights," said Levine Cava.
"Here in Miami-Dade, many families carry the stories of loved ones in Cuba who have suffered for refusing to remain silent," she said. "We stand with the Cuban people and with the many families still waiting for the day when Cuba is free and its people can live without fear.”
Miami-Dade has nearly 1 million Cuban residents, making it the largest Cuban community in the U.S.
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Cuba's government said late Thursday night that it would release 51 people from the island's prisons in an unexpected move.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the release in the upcoming days stems from a spirit of goodwill and close relations with the Vatican.
The government did not identify who it would release, except to say that "all have served a significant part of their sentence and have maintained good conduct in prison."
The Cuban government said it has granted pardons to 9,905 inmates since 2010. It added that in the past three years, another 10,000 people sentenced to imprisonment were released.
In January 2025, Cuba released prominent dissident José Daniel Ferrer as part of a government decision to gradually free more than 500 prisoners following talks with the Vatican.
Ferrer left Cuba last October and is now in Miami.
The nonprofit Prisoners Defenders has said there were 1,214 political prisoners in Cuba as of February 2026.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
