Cuba agrees to release 52 political prisoners

Cuba has agreed to free 52 political prisoners in the largest prisoner release by the communist authorities for decades. The move follows talks in Havana which involved officials from Spain and the Roman Catholic Church.

Five prisoners are expected to leave jail soon, while the rest will be freed in the next few months.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, who is in Havana, said the move "opens a new era in Cuba." Moratinos, who took part in the talks, also expressed hopes that it could help to put "aside differences once and for all on matters of prisoners."

The Cuban government has been under pressure to free dissidents since a prisoner on hunger strike died in February: a second is said to be close to death.

Cuba has always denied that it has political prisoners, calling them mercenaries paid by the United States to undermine Havana's rule, according to BBC News. But President Raul Castro has been stung by the strength of international criticism following the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo in February.

News of the impending releases received a mixed reaction among human rights activists.