Political prisoner denounces poor food in Cuban prisons.

Cuban activist and political prisoner Ángel Cuza Alfonso denounced on Tuesday the poor nutrition received by inmates at the Combinado del Este penitentiary in Havana.

From the social network X, the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights shared a recording in which the inmate exposes the poor conditions of the space where he lives with elderly people lacking basic care.

The food is terrible, mostly in a state of decay, the most inhumane thing that can be eaten in a prison, declared Cuza, who also pointed out the deaths of two elderly adults due to medical negligence in the detention center.

This is not the first time that the collaborator of the digital media outlet CubaNet raises his voice about the mistreatment in prison, since last April he confessed to his wife Dianelis Romero that "everything is terrible, tremendous hunger, the only thing he asks of me is to bring him a lot of food; a lot of hunger, very poor nutrition."

The person sentenced to a year and six months in prison for the crime of "public disorder" said, "There are no medications, there is nothing. Out on the street, there is nothing, imagine in there, inside prison, even less," he stated on that occasion to Martí Noticias.

In January of this year, several international human rights organizations and independent press outlets signed a letter demanding the release of Cuza and denouncing the injustices of his detention.

The event for which he was condemned dates back to Thursday, December 1, 2022, when he was arrested along with Lázaro Rolando Kessel Barrueto and Yasser Rivero Bonni, while trying to buy food at a store in the Centro Habana municipality. The situation faced by the activist demonstrates the arbitrariness of the arrest and legal process against him.

Currently, Cuza is part of the list of over 1000 political prisoners registered in Cuba, according to data from the NGO Prisoners Defenders, which in November 2023 published a study on its website revealing the existence of 28 minors serving sentences.

Less than a month ago, Yoanky Báez Albornoz, sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment for his participation in the July 11, 2021 demonstrations, was beaten by officers at the Combinado del Este, reported one of his fellow inmates.

In an audio published on the social network Facebook by the human rights activist Ángel Moya Acosta, inmate Ángel Castro Cabrera recounted that, at around 7:20 a.m. on May 14th, Báez was a victim of repression by the officers identified as Bryan and Jancarlos, in the prison located in Havana.

The prisoner -belonging to company 1301- exposed the situation of Báez and referred to the members of the Ministry of the Interior, one of the repressive bodies of the Castro dictatorship, as "abusers and torturers."

Faced with this situation, Daimy Albornoz Rodríguez, the convict's mother, explained to Martí Noticias that the assault took place on the day when it was her son's company's turn to go out to the patio for some sun, and that even one of the prison guards could be tried in a Military Tribunal.