Cuba has freed 127 prisoners including opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer in a landmark deal with departing US President Joe Biden that has led to emotional reunions across the communist island.

Ferrer, 54, is the most high-profile of the prisoners that Cuba began freeing Wednesday after Biden agreed to remove the country from Washington’s list of terrorism sponsors – part of an eleventh-hour bid to cement his legacy before handing power Monday to Donald Trump.

“Thank God we have him home,” Nelva Ortega told AFP of her husband Ferrer, who has been in and out of prison for the past two decades. His latest stint lasted three-and-a-half years.

Shortly after his release Thursday, Ferrer urged Cubans on a Miami-based radio program to “not be afraid” to stand up to a government he said was “increasingly scared” and “increasingly weak.”

In return for being removed from the US terror list that includes North Korea, Iran, and Syria, cash-strapped Cuba promised to release 553 people – many of whom the Biden administration said were “political prisoners.”

Source: Cuba Frees 127 Prisoners in Biden Deal Including Opposition Leader