The voice in the recording is tense, fuzzy and hard to make out amid a riot of background chatter. Inmates yell to one another in Spanish. Someone slams a door.
Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo Pérez, 42, hunched over the phone in a hallway inside Kilo 8, a maximum-security prison in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, recounting the past few weeks.
On April 15,five days after U.S. and Cuban officials held secret talks and delivered an ultimatum in Havana, two Cuban state security agents visited Castillo in his jail cell, according to a series of audio interviews made for USA TODAY.
The agents made him an offer: Leave Cuba or stay in prison.
The next day, they made the same offer to Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, at his maximum-security prison in Guanajay, southwest of Havana.
The Cubans were on notice. US officials told them on April 10 they had two weeks to free political prisoners as a measure of goodwill,USA TODAY previously reported.
Both agreed to be exiled. The deadline came and went. Both remain behind bars.
Now, Castillo and Otero – and at least a dozen other political prisoners languishing in Cuban prisons – are at the center of high-stakes negotiations between U.S. and Cuban officials that could reshape future relations between the Cold War foes.
If talks end in a deal, both nations could dramatically expand trade and business ties and ease long-standing travel restrictions, sparking a change on the island unseen since Fidel Castro took power in 1959. If they fail, Cuba could become PresidentDonald Trump’s next target following significant operations in Venezuela and Iran.
More:US imposed 2-week deadline during secret Cuba meeting
Back in the Guanajay prison,Otero counts the days.
“This news that Donald Trump, Marco Rubio have the intention of intervening in Cuba militarily...” he said of Trump’s threats.
It’s unknown why Cuban officials didn’t immediately release Castillo and Otero, after they agreed to leave the island.
USA TODAY has reached out to Cuba’s embassy in Washington.
Responding to a request for comment from USA TODAY, a State Department official said the Cuban regime continues to show indifference to the suffering of the Cuban people and is still holding hundreds of political prisoners. The official reiterated that President Trump favors a diplomatic solution but will not allow Cuba to deteriorate into a greater national security threat.
In San Isidro, a movement was born
Castillo and Otero grew up in San Isidro, a working class, hardscrabble neighborhood abutting the wharfs near the Port of Havana, and became friends – one a rapper, the other a visual artist.
The two friends and other artists, musicians and writers would gather in Otero’s San Isidro home to devise ways of protesting lack of freedoms on the islands, said Anamely Ramos, a close friend of the pair. The collective named itself the San Isidro Movement, after their neighborhood.
In 2021, as frustration mounted in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the country’s economic demise, Castillo and other musicians, both on and outside the island, created “Patria y Vida,” a song that denounced Cuba’s lack of freedoms. Its video gained more than 1 million views on YouTube and became the anthem of widespread street protests.
As the song circulated, state police put Castillo on house arrest, Ramos said. He was arrested on May 18, 2021, charged with “contempt of authority” and “defamation of state institutions” and sentenced to nine years in prison.
With his friend in prison, Otero continued teaming up with activists and rallies. In July 2021, he was picked up on his way to street protests and would later be sentenced to five years in prison.
As the pair awaited sentencing, “Patria y Vida” won two Latin Grammys (Song of the Year and Best Urban Song) in November 2021.
Human Rights groups saidat least 1,000 people were pickedup like Otero and Castillo during the demonstrations.
There are currently more than 1,250 political prisoners in Cuban jails and prisons, according to the Madrid-based advocacy group Prisoners Defenders.
“We’ve reached a point where change is absolutely essential,” said Eliexer “El Funky” Duany, a Cuban rapper who penned “Patria y Vida” along with Castillo and now lives in Miami after Cuban officials didn’t allow him back in the country.
Outside of Cuba, Castillo’s global recognition grew. PresidentJoe Biden’s administration began working to find ways to free Castillo, Otero and the hundreds of young political prisoners spread across the island nation.
In 2021, Biden emissaries turned to the Catholic Church for help, former Biden-era officials told USA TODAY.
At some point in the negotiations, the US told Cuba they wouldextend Castillo and Otero humanitarian parole and grant them asylum.
With Pope Francis’ assistance, Biden officials turned their efforts tothe 553 prisonersthe regime would give up.
“You give a long list of political prisoners. They let some out,” said Eric Jacobstein, who was the deputy assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department at the time of the negotiations. “They let out some of the high profiles and not others,” he said.
Right before leaving office, the Biden White House announced on Jan. 14, 2025 the president would remove Cuba from the state-sponsor of terror list. Later that day, Cuban President Miguel DÃaz-Canel said they would begin releasing prisoners “gradually.”
Trump later slapped the state-sponsor of terror designation back on at the start of his second term. Cuba kept its promise to the Vatican to deliver the remaining prisoners on the agreed upon list.
Castillo’s “Patria y Vida” continued to be celebrated internationally as a symbol of artistic courage but life on the inside was rough on him.
His weight fluctuated and boils broke out under his arms and along his neck, said Ramos, who frequently speaks with Castillo and Otero via phone. He misses his 10-year-old daughter, Jade.
Ramos said she would like to see Castillo and Otero freed but realizes it will take more to bring lasting change to Cuba. “The underlying problem remains unresolved,” she said. “The criminalization of people continues.”
Two artists at center of negotiations
Cuba has been in the White House’s crosshairs ever since the administration toppled longtime Cuba ally, Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, in a nighttime Special Ops raid on Jan. 3.
Trump hinted Cuba would be “next.”
The administration declared the Caribbean island a national security threat, expanding sanctions and tightening financial channels and imposing a fuel blockade. Havana has been forced to ration key services causing rolling blackouts, putting intense strain on hospitals and leading to widespread food insecurity.
Cuba has teetered on the verge of a humanitarian collapse but came close to reaching a deal with the U.S. in March,as first reported by USA TODAY.
While the details of that potential agreement remainundisclosed, some information has surfaced.
In late February, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio secretly engaged Raúl "Raulito” RodrÃguez Castro, the former president’s grandson, directly and through messages delivered through intermediaries.
The deal offered an off-ramp for DÃaz-Canel, the Castro family remaining on the island and contracts on ports, energy and tourism. The U.S. government floated dropping some sanctions, USA TODAY reported on Mar. 31.
Still, for reasons not fully understood, the talks soured. Both sides appeared to be deeply skeptical of each other’s intentions and demands.
Advertisement
Meanwhile Trump’s rhetoric intensified, saying he could “do whatever I want with Cuba.”
More:Cubastroika: Inside Trump plan to save Cuba's economy and win control
Like Cuba itself, the diplomatic push was on the brink of collapse. Diplomats from both sides nevertheless pressed behind closed doors.
At the April 10 meeting, U.S. officials proposed bringing Starlink’s high-speed internet to Cuba. They told them the Communist government needed to enact reforms that would make the economy more competitive. Perhaps, even see Havana pay billions of dollars in compensation to Americans and U.S. firms whose properties were seized after 1959.
And in April the first U.S. government plane landed on the island since 2016, when President Barack Obama became the first sitting American leader to visit Cuba in nearly a century.
A State Department official confirmed the meeting at the time to USA TODAY.
First, however, they wanted political prisoners set free.
In a statement to USA TODAY in April, a State Department spokesperson said the Trump administration remained committed to the release of all political prisoners, including Castillo and Otero.
In fact, the release of political prisoners is central to the negotiations aimed at achieving a wider, historic detente, people with understanding of the talks have told USA TODAY.
That’s when the prison visits by security officials began.
“The security agents came here and asked me, using these exact words: ‘Either you want to emigrate - tell me if you want to emigrate - or you want to remain in this exact situation you’re in right now, held prisoner until 2030,’” Castillo said via an audio recording.
He told them he would be receptive to emigrating in exchange for his freedom but said he realizes the Cuban government could change its mind any second.
“If the president of [Cuba] says I am an enemy of the Revolution, then what am I supposed to expect?” Castillo said. “I have nothing left to hope for.”
As security officials made their rounds in Cuban prisons, USA TODAY reported on April 15 that military planning fora possible Pentagon-led operation in Cubawas quietly ramping up.
Trump and Rubio have grown frustrated with Cuba’s leadership.
On May 1, Trump expanded sanctions on Cuba,authorizing secondary sanctions on foreign firms and effectively extending U.S. enforcement to foreign companies.
Six days later,Rubio met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican,where the topic of Cuba was raised. The Holy See has historically played a distinctive backchannel role in easing tensions between the two adversaries. Recently, it has quietly intensified its efforts, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. All spoke on the condition of anonymity.
From Rome, Rubio announced the administration wasslapping additional sanctions on Cuba.This time, the U.S. government was taking aim at the Cuban army’s purse strings by penalizingGrupo de Administracion Empresarial, or GAESA,a business conglomerate run by top military and security officials.
More:Cuba tensions on agenda as Rubio to meet Pope Leo XIV
After the meeting at the Vatican, Rubio, a practicing Catholic and son of Cuban exiles, said the US had offered Cuba an additional $100 million in humanitarian aid “to help the people of Cuba.”
“We hope we can do it because we do want to help the people of Cuba,” he told reporters, “who are being hurt by this incompetent regime that’s destroyed the country and the economy.”
Cuba's foreign minister, Bruno RodrÃguez Parrilla openly denied Rubio’s claim on X on May 12, stating: “THEY ARE LYING: a $100 million lie.”
“It would also be important to clarify how this aid would be distributed in Cuba,” RodrÃguez said. “Is this a donation, a deception, or a dirty business deal meant to undermine our independence? Wouldn’t it be easier to lift the fuel blockade?”
More:Suspicious bets on a US-Cuba war raise eyebrows in prediction markets
Not all political prisoners approached after the meeting agreed to leave the island.
Eloy Ricardo DomÃnguez, the auxiliary bishop of Havana and president of the National Prison Ministry, visited Félix Navarro, 72, and his daughter, Saylà Navarro,39, who were imprisoned in 2021.
He carried the same message: An offer for freedom at the price of exile.
Both declined, according to Martà Noticias, a Miami-based, U.S.-government-backed news portal.
'I would rather die inside’
Castillo said he hopes the U.S. and Cuba could reach an agreement that puts Cuba on a path to prosperity and more freedom, but he questioned whether it will ever happen with the current Cuban government.
“We need a person able to take the country forward,” he said. "We need a person with that capability, with the ability to get things moving ... And I don’t believe that person exists in Cuba.”
Otero, from his prison 30 miles southwest of Havana, said he’s been denied basic rights awarded to other inmates, such as sentence reductions and home visits. When a prison employee recently threatened to kill him, he went on an eight-day hunger strike.
More:Democrats try to blunt Trump in Cuba — before it's too late
Nearly whispering into a phone to avoid the attention of prison guards, Otero told USA TODAY he and others welcome the prospect of U.S. intervention.
He said he was disappointed when the U.S. allowed a Russian oil tanker to reach Cuba and deliver much-needed fuel in March because it gave the regime a lifeline and reason to delay cooperating with the U.S.
“People got extremely sad because they want the system to finally break so that there’s change,” Otero said. “[They] know that if this system gets a little oxygen, the repression continues, hunger continues, misery continues, injustice continues.”
Otero said one saving grace is that prison officials have allowed him to continue to paint and he has amassed thousands of paintings in his five years in prison.
He’s set to be released in July – or perhaps earlier if the U.S. and Cuba reach an agreement.
But he said he won’t leave without his paintings; he would rather die inside.
Rick Jervis is a national correspondent for USA TODAY's Investigations team and reported from Miami. Follow Jervis on X: @MrRJervis.
Kim Hjelmgaard is an investigative journalist covering global stories for USA TODAY, from living rooms to conflict zones. He reported from the Vatican.
Francesca Chambers is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY covering foreign policy and presidential elections in Washington. Follow her on X: @fran_chambers.
Ramon Padilla is a deputy graphics editor at USA TODAY. His work blends data-visualization with explanatory graphics and motion graphics, covering everything from breaking news to politics to sports.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Prisoners at center of US-Cuba secret talks face ultimatum: Exclusive
The voice in the recording is tense, fuzzy and hard to make out amid a riot of background chatter. Inmates yell to one another in Spani...
