US President Joe Biden intends to revoke Cuba’s status as a state sponsor of terrorism, the White House announced Tuesdayas part of an agreement facilitated by the Catholic Church to release political prisoners on the island.

Senior US administration officials, who reviewed the announcement on condition of anonymity, said “many dozens” of political prisoners and others the US deems to be unjustly detained will be released by the end of the Biden administration at noon on January 20.

The US would also ease some economic pressure on Cuba, as well as a 2017 memorandum issued by then-President Donald Trump, toughening Washington’s stance on Cuba.

Biden “respects the wisdom and advice given to him by many world leaders, particularly in Latin America, who have encouraged him to take these actions, on how best to advance the human rights of the Cuban people,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in declare.

Cuba’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the government had informed Pope Francis that it would release 553 people who had been convicted of various crimes. It said they would be released gradually while authorities analyzed legal and humanitarian options.

The ministry did not link their release to the US decision, but said it was “in the spirit of the regular jubilee of 2025” proclaimed by Pope Francis.

Cuban authorities have not said who is among the 553 people to be freed.

It is unlikely to last

The outgoing president’s decision is likely to be reversed as early as next week after Trump, the president-elect, takes office and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio becomes the country’s top diplomat.

Rubio, whose family left Cuba in the 1950s before the communist revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power, has long been a proponent of sanctions against the island nation. Rubio will appear before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee for a confirmation hearing on Wednesday and is expected to address his Cuban roots in his testimony.

Trump also named Mauricio Claver-Carone, a former White House National Security Council aide and strong proponent of sanctions against Cuba, as his special envoy for Latin America.

In the final days of Trump’s first administration, January 11, 2021, the White House returned the namewhich was rescinded during the period of rapprochement between Cuba and the United States during the second term of President Barack Obama. In doing so, the Trump administration cited Cuba’s support for Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and its refusal to extradite Colombian rebels to Colombia, among other issues, including the continued provision of sanctuary to wanted Americans.

Sanctions from the Biden era

About six months later, the Biden administration imposed new sanctions on island officials and the National Revolutionary Police after hundreds of Cubans were arrested during demonstrations in Havana and other cities to protest shortages, blackouts and government policies. These were the first such protests since the 1990s.

Human rights groups and activists, including the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, have pressed the Biden administration to rescind the appointment to ease the suffering of the Cuban people, who are feeling the impact of Cuba’s economic isolation.

The Cuban government recognized the announcement and expressed its gratitude, although it described it as “limited”.

“The decision announced today by the United States corrects, in a very limited way, some aspects of a cruel and unjust policy,” the State Department said in a press release.

‘There is no credible evidence’

Senior administration officials said the Biden administration has determined there is “no credible evidence” that Cuba is currently involved in supporting international terrorism.

Cuba’s foreign ministry said the government was aware that the new US administration could overturn the decision, but that it would remain “ready to develop a respectful relationship with that country”.

There was no immediate comment from Trump’s transition team or from Rubio or his office, but one of his Republican colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, was quick to condemn the move.

“Today’s decision is unacceptable on its own merits,” Cruz said in a statement. “The terrorism promoted by the Cuban regime has not stopped. I will work with President Trump and my colleagues to immediately reverse and limit the damage of the decision.”

Biden confirmed in a national security memo released Tuesday that Cuba has not provided any support for international terrorism over the past six months and has provided assurances to the administration that it will not support acts of terrorism in the future.

The move comes after the administration in May removed Cuba from the State Department’s short list of countries it believes have not fully cooperated against violent groups.