The social tension generated by the Cuban regime after the capture of Nicolás Maduro increased in February with several relevant events: the mass protest of inmates in the Ciego de Ávila Provincial Prison; the elimination and capture, in unclear circumstances, of a group of exiles who attempted to land on the Island for insurrectionary purposes; and the attacks by the United States and Israel on the Iranian regime, one of the international allies of the Cuban dictatorship.

The protest at the Ciego de Ávila prison was the largest demonstration of social discontent in a month where such expressions doubled compared to the previous period. The Cubalex monitoring team recorded 68 protests, predominantly featuring anti-government signs, many signed by organizations such as Cuba Primero and the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU). In addition to the anti-regime slogans characteristic of this type of protest, several messages of support for the US president and his policies of pressure against the Cuban dictatorship were observed. Other forms of protest were also recorded, including pot-banging demonstrations, chanting slogans, hunger strikes, occupation of public spaces, damage to propaganda billboards, burning of trash, and sabotage of state economic targets.

Graffiti in San Miguel del Padrón, Havana. Source: Mario J. Pentón/ Facebook.

Donald Trump again referred to Cuba as a failed state and asserted that talks with the regime were taking place at the highest level, a claim denied by Havana. The US oil embargo against the island remained in place; although the US president eliminated tariffs on crude oil exports to Cuba and authorized fuel imports by purported private businesses, many of which have family and business ties to the regime. Both Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez and the US Chargé d'Affaires in Havana, Mike Hammer, independently visited the Vatican and held meetings with representatives from various countries and the Catholic Church. Cuba accepted the return of nationals deported from the United States with criminal records, something it had previously refused to do.

Documents released by the Miami-Dade Tax Collector's Office revealed that Cuban regime companies are profiting from U.S.-issued export licenses and making luxury purchases, while basic goods are scarce in Cuba. Food prices have risen dramatically, the state is failing to sell rationed products, foreign currency is increasing in value on the black market, and the effects of fuel shortages are being felt in almost every sector of the country. Faced with inadequate urban waste collection, state authorities have encouraged the burning of garbage, causing serious environmental damage and endangering public health. Several countries have issued travel advisories for their citizens against Cuba.

Burning of garbage in Havana. Photo: Lázaro A. Saavedra González/ Facebook

In this context, humanitarian aid continued to arrive in the country from the United States, Mexico, Vietnam, Spain, Chile, and Canada; however, citizen complaints persist regarding problems with the delivery and quality of the aid. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping expressed their willingness to maintain cooperation with Cuba, while Guatemala, Guyana, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Honduras suspended the hiring of Cuban medical brigades under conditions of forced labor. Nicaragua eliminated visa-free access for Cubans, replacing it with a free online application system. Bruno Rodríguez's tour, in addition to the Vatican, included visits to China, Vietnam, Russia, and Spain, seeking support for the Cuban regime. Havana immediately condemned the attack by the United States and Israel against Iran.

Domestic violence continues to be a source of public concern. During the month, the following were recorded: 21 homicides (one less than in January), some of them carried out by several people and others with high levels of cruelty. The Cubalex monitoring team was made aware of 53 other security incidents, including assaults, robberies, sexual assaults, knife attacks, drug use, animal abuse, property damage, and street fights.

Agustín, a homeless man, died in Matanzas after being intentionally set on fire by an 18-year-old. Source: Nio Reporting a Crime/ Facebook.

Harassment incidents

During the month of February, the Cubalex monitoring team documented 242 repressive events, These incidents occurred in all provinces of the country and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud. The provinces with the most recorded violations were Havana (57), Ciego de Ávila (28), and Santiago de Cuba (22); and among the municipalities, Ciego de Ávila (26), Santiago de Cuba (21), and Camagüey (20).

The 242 repressive events recorded included 528 incidents of harassment, distributed across 44 categories of repression. The most frequent incidents were violations against persons deprived of liberty (96), the use of violence or harassment (43), transfers within prisons or to detention centers (42), police surveillance operations (35), threats or coercion (31), and arbitrary arrests (30).¹

A total of 190 people (46 women and 144 men) were victims of one or more of these violations. Political prisoner Alexander Verdecia Rodríguez and the content creators of the audiovisual project “El 4tico,” Ernesto Ricardo Medina and Kamil Zayas Pérez, were the individuals who suffered the most repressive acts. The organizations whose members were most frequently harassed were the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), the United Anti-Totalitarian Front (FANTU), and Cuba Decide, although the majority of the victims were not affiliated with any civil society group. The most repressed vulnerable groups were people deprived of their liberty, Afro-descendants, and human rights defenders.²

People with the highest number of violations

Alexander Verdecia
Rodriguez

Political Prisoner

Ernesto Ricardo
Medina

Content creator "El 4tico""

Kamil Zayas
Perez

Content creator "El 4tico""

The most relevant events of the month were the protest at the Ciego de Ávila Provincial Prison (known as Canaleta), the lethal attack and detention of a group of emigrants who tried to enter the country for insurrectionary purposes and the detention of the content creators of “El4tico”.

The protest at Canaleta was triggered by the appalling and inhumane conditions in prisons across the country. Hunger, abuse, torture, and the lack of medical care, repeatedly reported by Cubalex, pushed the inmates at Canaleta to their breaking point. They chanted political slogans and sent images abroad using cell phones they had secretly kept in the prison. The regime's response was brutal repression, the full extent of which remains unclear. The silencing of the inmates, their transfer to other prisons under conditions of enforced disappearance, and the denial of information to their families have prevented the unequivocal verification of allegations of violations committed to quell the protests—some of them very serious, such as the possible murders of inmates. The Ministry of the Interior issued a brief statement on the incident, downplaying its magnitude, obscuring its political nature, and failing to provide any information about the condition of the inmates.

Special forces officers were mobilized to suppress the protest in Canaleta. Source: Cántalo TV/ Facebook

Deaths in prisons are one of the most palpable expressions of the neglect and abandonment suffered by inmates. Cubalex documented the deaths of seven prisoners during the month, from causes including malnutrition, murders among inmates, alleged suicides, and inadequate medical care. In the case of political prisoner Luis Miguel Oña Jiménez, the authorities resorted to the common practice of granting a belated release from prison, when the situation was already irreversible, to evade state responsibility for his inevitable death.

Also recorded was the death in custody of Abraham Limonta Estrada, who committed suicide due to harassment suffered while undergoing mandatory military service; the death of Yasmani Aranguren Caraballo, while detained at the Alamar Technical School, whose body showed signs of physical violence; and the death of a woman with a disability and in a state of malnutrition, whom the workers of the nursing home where she was staying abandoned at the Calixto García hospital after an epileptic attack, where she finally died.

Abraham Limonta, another young Cuban who lost his life while in state custody during military service.

The documented events surrounding the maritime interception of a group of exiles on February 25 raise serious concerns from the perspective of international human rights law, particularly regarding the State's obligations to guarantee the right to life, personal integrity, access to effective judicial guarantees, and protection against enforced disappearances. The deaths that occurred during the operation, the initial uncertainty about the whereabouts of some survivors, and the reported difficulties in activating judicial mechanisms for monitoring detention—such as habeas corpus—demonstrate the need for a full, independent, and transparent investigation into the events.

In accordance with applicable international standards, the State has the obligation to demonstrate that the use of force complied with the principles of legality, necessity, and proportionality; to guarantee adequate medical care for injured persons in its custody; to ensure immediate access to effective judicial remedies; and to promptly and impartially investigate any potentially unlawful death that occurs in the context of security operations. A thorough investigation of these events and full cooperation with international human rights protection mechanisms are essential to guarantee accountability, the right to the truth for victims and their families, and compliance with the State's international obligations.

Cuban exiles killed as part of the Border Guard Troops operation to prevent them from landing in Cuba. Source: Ranfis El Matarrelatos/ Facebook.

The Cuban regime continued its escalating persecution of freedom of expression. The content creators of the audiovisual project “El4tico” were arrested at their homes and placed in pretrial detention for the alleged crimes of propaganda against the constitutional order and incitement to commit crimes. Simultaneously, pro-government figures and regime-affiliated social media accounts launched a smear campaign against these young people, which also targeted members of the audiovisual project Fuera de la Caja (Outside the Box). Leonard Richard González Alfonso was tried and faces an eight-year prison sentence for propaganda against the constitutional order and threats, for writing “How long? They are killing us” on a wall. Also for writing posters against the regime, university professor Ariel Manuel Martín Barroso is serving a 10-year prison sentence. Additionally, a group of ten Panamanian citizens and four Cubans were arrested and imprisoned, accused of creating anti-government graffiti in Havana.

The repression also extends to the families of dissidents. Yunisley Suárez, wife of former political prisoner Arony Yanko García, found a sign at her home with the message, “We’re watching you, worm.” Officials from the Ministry of the Interior’s Directorate for the Care of Minors twice threatened Eliannis Villavicencio, wife of political prisoner Alexander Verdecia, with prosecution and the removal of her daughters if she continued demanding the opposition leader’s release on social media. The state withdrew social assistance from Yurisnel Domenech’s grandmother and aunt as retaliation for his social media posts. The family of political prisoner Roilán Álvarez Rensoler has suffered arrests and received warnings for demanding the release of the opposition leader, who has been on a hunger strike throughout February.

Ernesto Ricardo Medina and Kamil Zayas Pérez, creators of the audiovisual space “El4tico”.

What happened to Ladies in White Leticia Ramos Herrería and her 86-year-old mother, Amada Rosa Herrería Rodríguez, exemplifies not only the arbitrariness but also the cruelty with which the Cuban regime operates. They were returning from the United States, where they had traveled for medical treatment, when Cuban authorities denied Leticia entry into the country, confiscated her belongings, and forced her to return to the United States on the same flight. This resulted in a forced separation of the family and placed her elderly mother in a situation of extreme vulnerability.