A 40-year-old Cuban inmate identified as Maikel Ponte Herrera died on April 8 after spending eight days on a hunger and thirst strike in the Melena del Sur prison.
The information was revealed on social media by Iris D. Santana Aldereguía, who shared haunting images of the state of Ponte Herrera.
"In prison, they did not assist him and allowed him to reach death," the woman reported, specifying that they notified the family and granted the inmate a temporary leave when the situation was already irreversible.
Ponte Herrera's mother managed to admit him to the Calixto García hospital by her own means. The source reported that at that hospital, the nurse attending to the patient asked the mother for 1,000 pesos for the placement of a catheter.
According to the nurse in question, the hospital lacked the necessary supplies, and the patient needed them urgently. Despite this, Maikel Herrera's condition was critical, and he ultimately passed away.
Maikel had no connections or privileges. He was just one of many ordinary Cubans who die without anyone being held accountable.
The responsibility for his death has been directly attributed to "Captain Luis," a prison officer, who allegedly ignored his request for medical attention during the hunger and thirst strike
Systematic violence and repression in Melena del Sur
On the same day of Maikel's passing, Cubalex alerted in an informational thread published on X about an atmosphere of extreme violence in that prison.
The situation, according to reports, has worsened since the arrival to power of the lieutenant colonel known as "Luis," which coincides with the report regarding the case of the deceased prisoner.
Among the most recent cases:
Political prisoner Juan Enrique Pérez Sánchez was brutally beaten and placed in a punishment cell after carrying out a peaceful protest.
Other political prisoners, Maykel Puig Bergolla and Aníbal Yasiel Jacinto Palau, were also beaten for expressing solidarity with Pérez Sánchez.
Cubalex holds the head of the penitentiary system of Mayabeque, Lázaro Yunior Santana Figueroa, and other high-ranking officials such as Rudi Méndez Acosta, Stany Lolo Villa, Eduardo Ramos Enamorado, Yordanis Rodríguez Valenciano, and Rody, head of internal order, accountable.
Cubalex called on international organizations and independent media to shed light on these abuses and demand justice.
“Repression in Cuban prisons cannot go unpunished,” they concluded.
The number of deaths among common and political prisoners in Cuba is skyrocketing
In recent months, reports of deaths of Cuban prisoners, both common and political, have surged across the country.
In early March, news broke about the death of two Cuban inmates who passed away in the Boniato prison in Santiago de Cuba, bringing the total number of deaths in that facility to eight since the beginning of 2025, according to the non-governmental organization Cubalex.
The NGO reported at that time the overcrowding conditions, neglect, lack of medical care, malnutrition, and unsanitary conditions in that and other penitentiary facilities, a situation that continues to "put the lives of inmates at serious risk and facilitate the spread of deadly diseases."
He also warned that the deaths of citizens in the custody of the Cuban state "cannot be normalized or go unpunished" and that "it is essential to demand justice, transparency, and guarantees for the protection of individuals deprived of liberty."
Previously, the organization reported in February the deaths of prisoners Giovanis Ortega and Irai Nieto at the beginning of that month, allegedly due to extreme malnutrition and neglect, in the same Unit No. 2 of the Boniato prison, known as the "underweight floor," where inmates face conditions of extreme hunger and lack of medical care.
A few weeks later, the inmate from Detachment No. 13 Osbety Girón, 51 years old, lost his life due to tuberculosis, after spending several days hospitalized. The detachment was placed under quarantine due to the risk of spreading the disease among the prison population.
In other prisons across the country, there have also been reports of prisoner deaths in recent months.
Particular shock was caused by the death of political prisoner Yoleisy Oviedo Rodríguez, 44 years old, on February 11th, in the El Guatao Forced Labor Camp, in Havana.
Reports from family members and independent organizations revealed that the mother of two had been suffering from health issues for months and did not receive the necessary medical attention.
It was also reported the death of Yankiel Justiz Despaigne, 36 years old, due to tuberculosis, on January 30, in the Melena del Sur prison, in Mayabeque.
In that same province, in the Quivicán prison, the death of inmate Yosvany Sánchez in December 2024 was recorded, due to health complications exacerbated by a lack of medical attention.
A report by Cubalex documented that between January 2022 and January 2024, 56 people died while in custody of the country's authorities: 36 inmates serving sentences, nine detainees in police stations, and 11 recruits during their mandatory Military Service.
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