Executive Summary
April was marked by the continuation of the structural crisis in Cuba: prolonged blackouts, fuel shortage, healthcare system collapse, food shortage and a widespread deterioration in living conditions. The ratification of Miguel Díaz-Canel as president in an indirect and undemocratic process aroused little public interest compared to the urgent need to survive the crisis.
Fuel shortages forced the cancellation of university classes and state events for May Day. This was compounded by 11 murders (6 women and 5 men), Armed robberies, looting of churches and attacks on farmers, in a growing scenario of violence and citizen insecurity.
Internationalization of authoritarianism and digital control
In April, Cuban officials signed a cybersecurity agreement with China They met with Chinese companies sanctioned by the US for exporting digital surveillance systems. Cuba also strengthened cooperation with Russia, Vietnam, Belarus, and other authoritarian governments, and opposed extending the mandate of the Group of Experts on Human Rights to Nicaragua at the UN.
Repression in numbers
During April, Cubalex documented 217 repressive incidents in 48 municipalities, with a higher concentration in Havana y Mayabeque, mainly linked to rapes committed in prisons of Eastern Combined y Quivicán. In this last prison, threats, suicide attempts, and psychological torture against prisoners from the 11J massacre were reported, as in the case of Abel Lázaro Machado Conde, a psychiatric patient under state supervision. The 195 victims identified They included activists, opposition members, human rights defenders, Afro-descendant people, and citizens deprived of their liberty.
The following are repeated complaints from prisons, with 91 incidents originating from prisons. Prisoners report torture, solitary confinement, beatings, isolation, poor food, illness, lack of medical care, and the use of common criminals to harass political prisoners. This last practice, considered a form of torture, was documented in several prisons on the island.
Criminalization of activism and selective repression
The following cases stand out: Yasmani González, activist detained and disappeared in Villa Marista after a violent operation, and of Marisol Peña Cobas, Peña Cobas, a Guantanamo activist whose seven-year-old daughter was interrogated without her consent in an operation led by State Security and the Office for the Care of Minors, had already been criminalized for her activism and her family had suffered reprisals for years.
He also continued “arbitrary ”migration regulation”, used to prevent critical voices from leaving the country, as in the case of the activists Aimee Hidalgo, Ada Ibis Ladrón de Guevara, Yaimara Márquez and the writer Jorge Fernández Era.
Legal analysis: absence of electoral democracy
The report includes a legal analysis of the appointment of the president and vice president of the Republic of Cuba, denouncing the lack of free and direct elections. The highest state officials are elected by the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP), controlled by the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), which concentrates power and limits genuine citizen participation. 97% of the deputies are members of the PCC or the Young Communist League (UJC), and 362 of them are high-ranking officials in state or party structures.
Methodology
The report was prepared based on the analysis of 491 records, of which 274 corresponded to context y 217 to repressive incidents, collected between April 1st and 30th, 2023. The sources used were publications in Facebook (233), websites (189) y Twitter (61). Cubalex clarifies that the data represents an undercount, since many victims cannot report due to censorship, fear or lack of digital access.
Check the full report to learn about the documented violations during the month.