The Center launched a petition drive on April 6, 2026 on the platform Change.org titled, “Urgent Request to Prioritize the Release of Cuban Political Prisoners.” It calls on the United States, the Holy See, the European Union, and Canada to prioritize the unconditional release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Cuba, press Havana to grant full access to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other independent monitors to Cuban prisons. The petition also calls for an end to the criminalization of nonviolent dissent.
The petition signed by 185 citizens and human rights defenders was delivered to them, but remains open, and we will resubmit when we reach 200 signers. These world leaders each have unique and different influences over the Cuban government for very different reasons.
Repression has intensified since April 2026. The number of identified political prisoners has risen from 1,214 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience to 1,281 over the past three months. They are enduring inhuman prison conditions, including prolonged solitary confinement, denial of adequate medical care, torture, insufficient food and water, and deplorable sanitary standards.
Families continue to be subjected to systematic harassment and surveillance. Compounding this crisis is Havana’s long standing refusal to bring transparency to the Cuban prison system. The Cuban government has not allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit its prisons since 1989.
To bring global attention to this reality, back in April the petition highlighted ten cases of Cuban political prisoners who were then imprisoned:
- Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara – Internationally recognized artist and leader of the San Isidro Movement; imprisoned since July 2021 for peaceful artistic activism and criticism of the government. He began a hunger strike in March 2026 amid death threats and fears of sentence extension.
- Maykel Castillo Pérez (“Maykel Osorbo”) – Grammy-winning musician and co-author of the global protest anthem “Patria y Vida”; detained since May 2021 and serving a nine-year sentence for his activism. He has faced repeated transfers to high-security prisons, physical assaults, and severe health deterioration.
- Félix Navarro Rodríguez – Veteran opposition leader and founder of the Pedro Luis Boitel Party for Democracy; re-arrested in April 2025 and held in prolonged isolation despite his advanced age and health concerns.
- Sayli Navarro Álvarez – Prominent activist and daughter of Félix Navarro; imprisoned for her human rights defense work and participation in nonviolent dissent.
- Donaida Pérez Paseiro – President of the Free Yoruba Association; re-arrested in May 2025 for her advocacy on behalf of religious and political freedoms.
- Loreto Hernández García – Recognized prisoner of conscience; detained for peaceful opposition activities, with reports of deteriorating health and denial of medical care.
- Alexander Díaz Rodríguez – Imprisoned for exercising freedom of expression and assembly, diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2022 without proper medical treatment.
- Jaime Alcide Firdó – Opposition figure re-arrested in April 2025 amid the regime’s crackdown on dissidents.
- Rolando Yusef Pérez Morera – Recognized opposition activist, one of the leaders of the 11J protests, he is in a severe state of malnutrition without medical attention.
- José Gabriel Barrenechea – Independent journalist sentenced to six years in prison in January 2026 for participating in a peaceful street protest during a blackout.
These cases represent the broader reality of more than 1,200 political prisoners, including hundreds from the July 2021 (11J) protests, artists, journalists, and ordinary citizens. Nine of them remain imprisoned today, and the one who was released on April 12, 2026, Alexander Díaz Rodríguez, shocked the international community with his skeletal appearance.
Alexander Díaz Rodríguez, Cuban political prisoner. (Photo courtesy Prisoners Defenders)
According to his testimony, he was summoned to appear on Monday, June 29, at a unit of the political police in Havana. Taking advantage of the trip from Artemisa, he had planned to attend a reception on Thursday, July 2, for U.S. Independence Day, organized at the residence of the head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana (@USEmbCuba), to which he had been invited. However, before he could attend, he was arbitrarily detained and held incommunicado for more than 24 hours. During that time, he denounces having been subjected to severe physical and psychological abuse, as well as various humiliations (including being forced to undress). Alexander states that dissident José Elías González was also detained and subjected to similar treatment.
Just days before the fifth anniversary of the start of his unjust imprisonment, we have received information from the family of Loreto Hernández García, a prisoner of conscience in Cuba, alerting us to a health setback associated with cardiovascular and diabetic problems.According to his family, Loreto has experienced fainting spells, hypertensive crises, and days when he cannot get out of bed due to his conditions.The Cuban authorities have the obligation to ensure he receives urgent, appropriate, and specialized medical care. They must also put an end to his unjust deprivation of liberty.We reiterate the call to @Diazcanelb to immediately and unconditionally release Loreto Hernández García and Donaida Pérez Paseiro, both prisoners of conscience, as well as all individuals detained solely for exercising their human rights.
“The conviction of rapper Maykel Castillo Pérez ‘Osorbo’ and visual artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara starkly exposed how the Cuban authorities use the criminal justice system to punish dissident artists and silence their right to freedom of expression. Their imprisonment also shows how repression can have a particular impact on Afro-Cuban people who publicly challenge those in power. Four years later, Maykel and Luis Manuel continue to suffer the consequences of an unjust sentence that should never have existed.”
Maykel Castillo Pérez ‘Osorbo’ and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara (Maykel Osorbo Facebook)
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara: [Translator Ramon Padilla] We are talking about a process that has been underway for more than six or seven years in this country. There are changes taking place in Cuba; the San Isidro Movement, other movements and the entire opposition. Then there were the protests outside of the Ministry of Culture on July 11th. All of this, we would argue, is symptomatic of a Cuba that is in transition. A Cuba that the Americans are now stepping in to support, giving a good push to that Cuban built upon civil society; all Cuban exiles. We are that civil society, and we have worked to organize ourselves with varying degrees of success both in and out of Cuba.
Maykel Castillo Pérez: [Translator Ramon Padilla] We need someone to emerge who possesses sufficient capability. Someone who understands the people’s problems and can move the country forward, not back. We are 50 years behind. We need a person able to take the country forward. When I say forward, I mean the economy improves. That justice improves; that the courts are impartial.
Thousands of Cubans were jailed during and after the nationwide nonviolent protests that demanded change in Cuba in July of 2021. Some protesters were shot by paramilitaries, and the police. Others were killed by regime agents. Hundreds were subjected to political show trials, and sentenced to prison sentences of up to 30 years.
The “trial” of these two artists concluded over four years ago today on May 31, 2022 that drew more international scrutiny than the others.
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was last arrested, and detained on July 11, 2021 before he could join in the 11J protests mentioned above. In 2021, Time Magazine recognized Luis Manuel as one of the 100 most influential people.
Maykel Castillo Pérez “Osorbo” had been in pre-trial detention for over a year prior to his trial. He was taken by the political police on May 18, 2021. He is also a two-time Latin Grammy winner for the song he co-wrote and performed with other Cuban artists in 2021 called Patria y Vida. Both Maykel and Luis Manuel appear in the official video that has over 17 million views.
“Castillo’s last statement to the judge during the trial was, ‘Espero que la sentencia de usted, señora jueza, sea la de su conciencia,’ which translates to: ‘I hope your sentence, madame judge, is one dictated by your conscience.,” reported NBC News.
Freedom House, July 2, 2026
Cuba at a Breaking Point: Why This Moment Requires Holding the Line On Human Rights
Democratic governments should support Cubans’ fundamental rights—or risk allowing the country’s repressive regime to adapt and survive while the Cuban people remain in dire straits.
By Katie Turner, Program Manager, Latin American & the Caribbean
Cuba has faced economic crises before. This time, it is different.
Over the past five years, roughly a quarter of the Cuban population has left, reflecting a profound loss of confidence in the country’s future. Those who remain face severe shortages of food, medicine, fuel, and electricity. Blackouts are routine. Hospitals lack supplies. Meeting basic needs requires constant improvisation.
This is not a temporary downturn. It reflects decades of centralized state control and repressive governance, including suffocating restrictions on political, civic, and economic life under Cuba’s unaccountable authoritarian regime. During past crises, the government was able to mitigate pressure through external support, including from governments in Russia, Venezuela, and China. That model has now broken down.
US measures imposed against the Cuban regime in 2026 tightened constraints on fuel imports and access to hard currency, accelerating nationwide shortages of basic supplies and disruptions across key sectors including electricity generation and tourism. At the same time, long-standing inefficiencies in production and distribution, combined with deep-rooted economic mismanagement, have been exposed. The state can no longer shield the population from the consequences of its corrupt governance. The regime’s traditional external backers have scaled back their support or shifted priorities, leaving Havana with fewer lifelines and diminishing prospects of much-needed relief.
Conditions are not only the result of economic strain. They reflect an entrenched system designed to tightly control how Cuban citizens respond to crisis. For decades, the regime has restricted independent civic action, limiting the ability of individuals and communities to organize relief, report shortages, or mobilize support in times of need. Amid today’s crisis these constraints have become even more severe: security forces, pervasive surveillance, and penalties for dissent deter people from sharing information or coordinating aid, even as shortages deepen. As needs grow, opportunities to address them remain constrained, and human suffering increases.
This is a moment for the Cuban people’s democratic allies to remain firm, and to act decisively and without delay. While international governments have begun to recalibrate their policies toward Cuba, without sustained pressure to improve human rights and accountability the regime will adapt once again without delivering meaningful improvements.
Maintaining control
Power in Cuba is distributed across the Communist Party leadership, security services, military-linked economic structures, and Raúl Castro and his inner circle. Military-linked business conglomerates, particularly the Grupo de Administración Empresarial SA (GAESA), dominate key economic sectors with minimal transparency, concentrating revenue and diverting billions in foreign-currency earnings into channels that do not translate into public services or critical infrastructure. This concentration of economic power also enables the regime to capture the benefits of external investment, remittances, tourism revenue, and humanitarian assistance, reinforcing its tight economic and political control.
Repression remains central. As of June 2026, more than 1,280 political prisoners remain detained in Cuba, despite release announcements including several in 2026 that coincided with US negotiations. These are not signs of reform, but part of a pattern in which political prisoners are leveraged as bargaining chips while the system itself and the humanitarian conditions facing ordinary Cubans remain unchanged.
Meanwhile, public discontent is rising. Those expressing grievances face detention, surveillance, intimidation, imprisonment, and forced exile. Independent organizations like Cubalex, the Observatorio Cubano de Derechos Humanos, and Justicia 11J continue to document these patterns. Repression also extends abroad, with activists and journalists facing harassment beyond Cuba’s borders, reportedly including inside the United States.
At the same time, opaque governance enables continued engagement with US adversaries like the governments of Russia and China, carrying broader implications for hemispheric geopolitical stability and security.
These dynamics show that external policy by democratic governments, whether based on pressure or engagement aiming to promote economic conditions and human rights, can no longer rely on assumptions of gradual reform. Without up-front demands for accountability, transparency, and respect for fundamental rights, policies risk reinforcing Cuba’s repressive system.
A divided international response
Cuba’s economic and political crisis has prompted shifts in its international relations, but the responses remain divided.
In May 2026, citing limited progress on human rights and governance, the European Union placed its cooperation agreement with Cuba under review, threatening to scale back political dialogue and development cooperation. In June, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for sanctions, the release of political prisoners, and a reevaluation of engagement absent concrete human rights progress. The United States has maintained its long-standing embargo but significantly increased pressure in ways not seen before: tightening sanctions, targeting fuel supplies, and further restricting financial flows into the country.
Across Latin America, divisions are growing. Governments in Brazil and Mexico emphasize dialog and humanitarian engagement, maintaining that Cuba’s crisis should be addressed through cooperation and respect for Cuba’s sovereignty. Others are recalibrating more sharply. In March 2026, Costa Rican authorities suspended diplomatic recognition of the Cuban government and closed the country’s embassy in Havana, citing repression and human rights abuses.
This fragmentation creates an opening the Cuban government knows how to exploit. It has repeatedly shown that it can adapt and make selective concessions to maintain control. Without clear, shared goals among democracies for transparency, accountability, and measurable human rights improvements, external involvement risks feeding Cuban authorities’ cycle of repression and misrule rather than improving daily realities and alleviating the humanitarian suffering of the Cuban people.
What must happen next
The conditions that sustained Cuba’s system are broken, but reform will not happen on its own.
While independent Cuban civil society has already begun to articulate proposals for achieving democratic change, there are concrete steps that the United States and other democracies can take to help support these actors, restore the rule of law, and stand with the Cuban people in their pursuit of justice, accountability, and the opportunity to determine their own future. At a minimum, when crafting policy, they should prioritize the following results, with the ultimate measure of success being whether policies expand fundamental freedoms, address the immediate humanitarian crisis, and improve the daily lives of the Cuban people.
Securing the release of political prisoners and restoration of fundamental rights. The unconditional release of all Cuban political prisoners and the restoration of free expression and civic space must come first. Support should be extended to political prisoners and their families following release, including assistance that addresses immediate needs and reintegration support. Moving forward, international actors should prioritize the restoration and protection of fundamental rights and ending repression by conditioning engagement on repealing laws that criminalize dissent, establishing legal safeguards for free expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and enabling independent monitoring, which includes granting organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to detention facilities.
Increasing transparency and accountability. The Cuban regime’s centralized control enables authorities to divert resources away from the Cuban people and into their own pockets. In the near term, any humanitarian assistance should be sent through channels that reach people directly, including trusted civil society networks, rather than through state-controlled systems. Looking ahead, international donors should require independent audits and public reporting by state-controlled entities to ensure transparency. Over time, policy should prioritize the separation of military institutions from commercial activity, increased civilian oversight, and redirection of investment toward essential services, including electricity, water, food production, health care, transportation, and housing.
Supporting Cuban civil society and independent media. Independent Cuban civil society must be included in consultations, implementation, and oversight of international initiatives. In time, durable progress will depend on structural change and social repair. Independent media and civil society are critical to documentation and other efforts that strengthen accountability and future reform, and democratic governments should support them.
Conditioning regime engagement. Any engagement with the regime should be tied to measurable human rights benchmarks, with targeted sanctions reinforcing accountability for repression and corruption.
This is not the moment to pull back
Something irreversible is underway in Cuba. The conditions that once allowed the system to endure are no longer intact.
The path forward remains uncertain, but the implications are clear. This is a moment to stay firm on human rights and governance issues. Pulling back now would reduce pressure on the regime at a consequential moment. Sustained focus on the humanitarian crisis and on human rights and accountability offers the clearest path to real improvement in daily life for Cubans, and the chance for them to pursue their own democratic aspirations.
https://freedomhouse.org/article/cuba-breaking-point-why-moment-requires-holding-line-human-rights
Amnesty International, June 23, 2026
Cuba: Four years after an unjust conviction, Afro-Cuban artists remain imprisoned for expressing themselves
On the fourth anniversary of the sentencing of Maykel Castillo Pérez “Osorbo” and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Amnesty International said:
“The conviction of rapper Maykel Castillo Pérez ‘Osorbo’ and visual artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara starkly exposed how the Cuban authorities use the criminal justice system to punish dissident artists and silence their right to freedom of expression. Their imprisonment also shows how repression can have a particular impact on Afro-Cuban people who publicly challenge those in power. Four years later, Maykel and Luis Manuel continue to suffer the consequences of an unjust sentence that should never have existed,” said Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
On 24 June 2022, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Pérez “Osorbo” were sentenced to five and nine years in prison, respectively, on charges including “contempt”, “public disorder”, “insulting national symbols”, “assault” and “defamation of institutions and organizations, heroes and martyrs”. Their convictions were linked to peaceful protests, social media posts and videos, artistic expression, and criticism of the Cuban government, all of which are protected under international human rights law. Amnesty International has designated both of them as prisoners of conscience and has called for their immediate and unconditional release.
“The release of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara in July, upon completion of this unjust sentence, must be full and unconditional. There can be no real freedom under surveillance, arbitrary restrictions or threats of being returned to prison. The Cuban authorities must immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience, including Saylí Navarro Álvarez, Félix Navarro Rodríguez, Loreto Hernández García, Donaida Pérez Paseiro, Roberto Pérez Fonseca and Maykel Castillo Pérez ‘Osorbo’, as well as all those unjustly detained for political reasons in Cuba, including teenager Jonathan David Muir Burgos,” concluded Ana Piquer.
Cuban political prisoners central to ongoing negotiations with US | The Excerpt
On the Thursday, May 14, 2026, episode of The Excerpt podcast: On April 10th, the U.S. gave Cuban leaders only two weeks to free political prisoners if they wanted to preemptively land a deal with the U.S. Cuba then made an offer to two of their higher profile prisoners – Maykel Castillo Pérez and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara: They could either leave Cuba or stay and rot in prison. Both agreed to be exiled. Yet both still languish behind bars. USA TODAY Investigative Reporter Rick Jervis joins The Excerpt to talk about what’s next for Castillo and Otero as well as high-level negotiations between US and Cuban officials.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
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Dana Taylor:
From the moment the Trump administration toppled former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s longtime ally Cuba has been in the White House’s crosshairs. In the aftermath of that operation, President Donald Trump declared Cuba would be “next”. On April 10th, the US gave Cuban leaders only two weeks to free political prisoners if they wanted to preemptively land a deal with the US. Cuba then made an offer to two of their higher profile prisoners, Maykel Castillo Pérez and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. They could either leave Cuba or stay and rot in prison. Both agreed to be exiled, yet both still languish behind bars.
Hello, and welcome to USA TODAY’s The Excerpt. I’m Dana Taylor. Today is Thursday, May 14th, 2026. Here to talk about what’s next for Castillo and Otero, as well as high-level negotiations between the US and Cuban officials, I’m now joined by USA TODAY Investigative Reporter Rick Jervis. Rick, thank you so much for taking the time out and joining me.
Rick Jervis:
It’s good to be here, Dana.
Dana Taylor:
Rick, can you please start us out by telling us how you came to know these two prisoners, Castillo and Otero? Who are they, and what made their story so compelling to you and your colleagues?
Rick Jervis:
So pretty much anybody following Cuba for the last couple of years have heard of these two individuals. Maykel Castillo Pérez is a Cuban rapper and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara is an activist and a visual artist that became really well known in 2021 during widespread protests in Cuba, mostly because Maykel actually was part of a rap group that created this song Patria y Vida. It was a hip-hop song created by hip-hop artists both on the island and outside of the island by Cuban exiles.
And it’s kind of a protest song. It basically denounced a lot of the lack of freedoms in Cuba, and it just became viral. And within a couple of months, it had more than a million views. And it became sort of the anthem of these widespread protests found in Cuba in 2021. So, it was a really well-known song. Maykel was known to be part of that, and Luis was also deeply involved with the actual group that made it.
And then they got arrested in 2021. Maykel got arrested in May of 2021, and Luis Manuel was arrested in July of that same year. And they were sentenced to nine years and five years in prisons, respectively. And these two became really famous later that year because that song Patria y Vida won two Latin Grammy’s later that year. Maykel couldn’t basically attend the actual ceremonies because he was in prison, but the song became really, really popular, and both these individuals really got global recognition after that.
Dana Taylor:
Castillo and Otero each recorded audio from their prisons and shared those files exclusively with USA TODAY. I want to start with some of Otero’s audio. Can you set this up for me, please?
Rick Jervis:
We basically wanted to get the voices from these two individuals directly from them. So we’re able through a third person to have these two individuals call them and basically record some of their thoughts. What you’re going to hear now is Luis Manuel’s thoughts directly on some of the protests which happened in 2021 that ultimately landed him in prison.
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara:
[Translator Ramon Padilla] We are talking about a process that has been underway for more than six or seven years in this country. There are changes taking place in Cuba; the San Isidro Movement, other movements and the entire opposition. Then there were the protests outside of the Ministry of Culture on July 11th. All of this, we would argue, is symptomatic of a Cuba that is in transition. A Cuba that the Americans are now stepping in to support, giving a good push to that Cuban built upon civil society; all Cuban exiles. We are that civil society, and we have worked to organize ourselves with varying degrees of success both in and out of Cuba.
Dana Taylor:
Rick, what were your thoughts after hearing this?
Rick Jervis:
It was really interesting. First of all, it’s very, very difficult to get anybody’s thoughts from inside Cuban prisons. These are institutions which are obviously very tightly guarded and there’s not a lot of freedom there for the individuals inside. And so to be able to hear somebody talk from inside of the prison was really remarkable.
But things that Luis Manuel brings up is also really interesting. People tend to forget that. There’s a lot of talk about the Cubans and exiles and civil society outside of Cuba, but Luis Manuel is basically reminding everybody that there is this civil society inside of Cuba, that there are intellectuals and thinkers and artists and writers who are really trying to get change done in Cuba.
Dana Taylor:
We also have audio recordings from Castillo talking about his commitment to fight for change. Let’s give that a listen.
Maykel Castillo Pérez:
[Translator Ramon Padilla] We need someone to emerge who possesses sufficient capability. Someone who understands the people’s problems and can move the country forward, not back. We are 50 years behind. We need a person able to take the country forward. When I say forward, I mean the economy improves. That justice improves; that the courts are impartial.
Dana Taylor:
There seems to be a very tangible frustration for Castillo, and it’s of course understandable given his current circumstances. What are your thoughts here?
Rick Jervis:
Yeah, this is interesting, too. Maykel is very different from Luis Manuel in some ways. The way that it was kind of explained to me, he’s more street. And so what you’re going to hear is a more visceral answer from him. And there is a lot of frustration coming out of him, both in his words and his tone. He’s been sentenced to nine years. So there’s a sort of palpable hopelessness around him, and he is really speaking direct about his hopelessness and about just his lack of hope that there’s ever going to be change in Cuba.
Dana Taylor:
Let’s zoom out a bit here and talk about the steps this administration has taken so far with Cuba to force change.
Rick Jervis:
Yeah. Following the January raid to actually arrest Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela, the Trump administration has essentially controlled all of that country’s oil output and put an oil embargo on Cuba. Cuba was struggling with outages before. They’ve been struggling with a basically collapsed economy, and now they’re really struggling. There’s very little oil coming in and out of that country, and they’re really struggling under long-term outages.
The Trump administration has tightened sanctions. They’ve basically increased the economic stranglehold on the island. And at the same time, they’ve been holding a number of back channel talks with Cuban leaders, where they have been urging Cuban leaders to make longstanding economic and sort of political reform, release political prisoners and all of this in exchange for loosening of sanctions. But it’s really like a remarkable turn of events and something that I think a lot of people didn’t expect out of this administration.
Dana Taylor:
When it comes to getting Cuba to release its political prisoners, the Biden administration seemed to make significant headway. Tell me about that, and then how the Trump administration’s approach has differed.
Rick Jervis:
In January of 2025, former President Biden took the step of basically removing Cuba from its US list of nations that sponsored terrorism. And with that, and through negotiations brokered by the Catholic Church, Cuba actually began to release political prisoners, including some of the protestors actually arrested during those 2021 protests. And there was traction there. But when President Trump took office shortly after that, he probably put Cuba back on the state-sponsored list, and those efforts have since stalled.
Trump’s approach is actually very different. He has quite a large stick to wield with several carrots also. So he is doing both. He is basically aggressively showing Cuba that he’s kind of holding all the cards with the oil embargo, but at the same time offering different carrots. He’s offering loosening of sanctions. He’s offering an economic deal, which could really make Cuba prosper. And it’ll be really interesting to see how it all plays out.
Dana Taylor:
What happens next for both these two political prisoners as well as the high-level talks?
Rick Jervis:
Well, now it’s a wait-and-see game. Both of these political prisoners, Castillo and Alcántara, we’ve been told, are on a list of select political prisoners that they’ve asked to have released. The high-level talks seem somewhat stalled at the moment. There were a number of really high-end talks that seem to have a little traction, but nothing’s happened since.
So it’s kind of a wait-and-see game to see what the Trump administration does next. And I think a lot of people are also waiting to see whether Cuba, as an act of goodwill, starts releasing some of these actual political prisoners. And obviously Maykel and Luis Manuel are at the top of the list, so we’ll see what happens.
Dana Taylor:
Rick Jervis is an investigative reporter for USA TODAY. Thanks for sharing your reporting here with us on The Excerpt, Rick.
Rick Jervis:
Sure. Thank you, Dana.
Dana Taylor:
Thanks for listening. I’m Dana Taylor. Our stories come from USA TODAY journalists across the country. We’ll be back tomorrow morning with a deeper look into another story that matters.
Please note: Cuban officials did not return USA TODAY interview requests for comment.
Responding to a request for comment from USA TODAY, a State Department official said the Cuban regime continues to show indifference to the suffering of the Cuban people and is still holding hundreds of political prisoners. The official reiterated that President Trump favors a diplomatic solution but will not allow Cuba to deteriorate into a greater national security threat.