Cuba frees three Panamanians, seven remain in custody

Three Panamanian women walked out of Cuban custody, but seven of their countrymen and countrywomen were still being held after Havana’s partial release left the case unresolved.

Panama said Cuba freed three of the 10 Panamanian citizens detained on the island earlier this year, and that the women had already arrived back in Panama. The government thanked Havana for the release, while pressing for the rest of the detainees to be freed and for the dispute to be settled quickly.

The detentions began in Havana on February 28, 2026, when Cuba’s Interior Ministry said 10 Panamanian citizens were arrested for propaganda against the constitutional order under Article 124 of the Penal Code. Cuban authorities publicly identified the group on March 2 and said initial investigations showed the Panamanians had been instructed to enter Cuba to make signs with subversive content. Cuba also said the detainees later admitted to the acts.

Panamanian authorities have kept the case on a diplomatic track. The Foreign Ministry said it was maintaining diplomatic and consular efforts for the detainees, and Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha Vásquez met with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel in Havana while the case was still active. Panama later said Martínez-Acha had checked on the Panamanians and found they were receiving humane treatment and legal assistance.

Reports from Panama and Cuban state-linked outlets identified the three freed women as Evelyn Castro, Cinthia del Carmen Camarena and Abigail Sthefany Gudiño. Their release narrows, but does not close, a case that has become a test of how far quiet diplomacy can go when Cuba treats internal security cases as political offenses and when foreign detainees become part of a broader standoff.

For Panama, the stakes are now concentrated on the remaining seven and on whether Havana will move beyond a symbolic gesture. For Cuba, releasing three detainees may ease pressure without forcing a retreat from its accusation that the group was part of a hostile political operation. What remains is a small but revealing measure of Cuba’s current approach: selective concessions are possible, but the legal and political frame around the arrests is still intact.