Cuba's government said Thursday night that it would release 51 people from the island's jails in an unexpected move. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the release in the upcoming days stems from a spirit of goodwill and close relations with the Vatican.

The government did not identify who it would release, except to say that "all have served a significant part of their sentence and have maintained good conduct in prison." The government said it has granted pardons to 9,905 inmates since 2010. It added that in the past three years, another 10,000 people sentenced to imprisonment were released.