The Roman Catholic Church in Cuba says the government has agreed to free a political prisoner, Diosdado Gonzalez, who had refused to go into exile.
His release would leave just five of 52 prisoners the communist authorities agreed to free last July still in jail.
The church said another eight prisoners who were not part of that group were also going to be released.
The US and EU have made the release of all political prisoners a condition for closer ties with Cuba.
"In continuation of the process of liberation of prisoners, we inform that the release from jail of Diosdado Gonzalez has been arranged," said Orlando Marquez, a spokesman for the office of the archbishop of Havana.
Mr Gonzalez, 48, was arrested in 2003 in a crackdown on opposition activists and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
His wife Alejandra Garcia is a founding member of the the Ladies in White opposition group that has been campaigning for the release of all political prisoners.
She said the head of the Catholic Church in Cuba, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, had telephoned to say Mr Gonzalez would soon be returning to their home in the city of Matanzas. BBC News
