Cuba has started releasing some prisoners as part of talks with the Vatican, a day after President Joe Biden’s administration announced his intent to lift the U.S. designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Less than a week before leaving the White House, President Joe Biden is lifting the state sponsor of terrorism designation for Cuba.

With days left in office, President Joe Biden and his administration continues to implement foreign policy that is expected to be reversed by President-elect Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON — Retiring President Biden is lifting Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism less than a week before leaving office — outraging Republican members of Congress who believe more stringent sanctions should remain in effect.

In a last-minute move before he leaves office next week, President Joe Biden removed Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, lifted sanctions on companies run by Cuba’s military and again suspended a provision in a law that allows Cuban Americans to seek compensation for confiscated property on the island.

President Biden will remove Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, U.S. officials announced on Tuesday, as a part of a deal that is expected to free protesters jailed during a sweeping 2021 crackdown on dissent by the Communist government.

Cuba on Wednesday began releasing prisoners jailed following anti-government protests in 2021, making good on a deal agreed with the Biden administration this week. Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday removed Cuba from a blacklist of nations that sponsor terrorism and rolled back a raft of sanctions implemented by Donald Trump during his first presidency that have contributed to the communist-run island's worst economic crisis in decades.