HAVANA, March 15, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - An NGO said Saturday that Cuban authorities had released 14 people detained after massive anti-government protests in July 2021, a day after saying just two people had been freed.

Their release, confirmed by the Miami-based Cubalex, is part of a "good will" prisoner release negotiated with the Vatican, which has often acted as a mediator between Havana and Washington.

The unusual show of clemency came hours after President Miguel Diaz-Canel confirmed that his government was in talks with the United States.

The first prisoners were freed Friday as Cuban authorities confirmed that talks were also underway with the United States amid intense pressure from President Donald Trump.

The rights group Justicia11J, for its part, said that as of Friday Cuba counted "at least 760 political prisoners," including 358 who took part in the July 2021 protests, which sparked a government crackdown and hundreds of arrests.

The Caribbean island's communist authorities have accused Washington of orchestrating the protests in a bid to overthrow the one-party government.

Trump has recently ratcheted up pressure on Havana, placing the impoverished nation under a US oil blockade in January that is strangling its fuel supplies and economy, which was already hammered by years of US trade embargoes.

Speaking to AFP, a White House official on Friday repeated Trump's claim that Cuba is a "failing nation" and that a deal would its government "would be very easily made."