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At least 80 common prisoners in the foreign prison of La Condesa, located in Mayabeque, have been on a hunger strike since June 4, in protest against mistreatment and power outages suffered in the facility.
In a handwritten letter published on Friday, the inmates—both men and women, the majority of whom are Venezuelan—denounced mistreatment, poor nutrition, and the denial of parole benefits despite meeting the requirements for conditional release.
In their letter addressed to activists, organizations, and independent journalists, and sent to CiberCuba by Javier Larrondo, president of the NGO Prisoners Defenders, the inmates are requesting international intervention to resolve their situation and are raising concerns about the challenges they face in accessing water, electricity, and adequate medical care.
They specifically criticize the prison food, which lacks nutritional value.
"Why, day after day, is it so difficult for us to access water, electricity, proper medical care; why are we given inadequate food, devoid of any nutritional value, completely reduced, and above all, extremely dehumanizing?" the strikers pointed out.
"A considerable number of us, foreign prisoners, were disappeared in the early mornings, and with each passing day, we continue to vanish without a trace," they explained.
"We will only resume consuming food or drink when this discrimination and injustice are justified, and our rights, adequate and dignified nutrition, and medical care are guaranteed. On behalf of all foreign prisoners in Cuba (both men and women), we urgently request international support," concludes the letter.
In total, 74 Venezuelans, convicted of various crimes, are part of the group of strikers.
They question why they are not allowed to return to their home countries to serve their sentences with dignity, especially when the island is facing food shortages and poor living conditions in prisons.
The signatories assert that they are constantly repressed and threatened, and many prisoners have been disappeared in the early hours without a trace, while others are punished in cells notorious for their cruelty, such as "47."
Among the strikers is Fabio, a Venezuelan nearly 35 years old, sentenced to 15 years for drug-related offenses. His mother, María, told Larrondo that her son has been imprisoned for seven years and is denied parole for refusing to back down.
In an audio message sent to independent Cuban media, Larrondo explains that the woman also reported that Fabio's father, who is incarcerated alongside him for the same crime, passed away in prison due to lack of medical attention.
For the past three days, comments from family members and friends of the prisoners have been circulating in the Facebook group "La Condesa en Cuba," confirming that "There is a lot of abuse. They are given spoiled food and told to eat it if they want, by someone named Daniels. Furthermore, they do not want to apply the retroactivity of the new penal code to their sentences in order to secure an early release."
"Many are affected because their rations have been reduced, if you can even call it food. On top of that, they cut off the electricity all day, not to mention the water and the phone, should I go on?" stated another user.
"This information has been confirmed by the mother of one of the prisoners. Both the women at the PMO (Western Women’s Prison) and the men at the Condesa are on a hunger strike, although, as always, not everyone," noted a third party.
This is not the first time that inmates at La Condesa have protested. In December 2022, Bulgarian citizen Andrian Georgiev protested in the same manner. In February of that same year, a Jamaican prisoner committed suicide in his cell, according to inmates who reported strange behavior from the officers following the tragedy.
On that occasion, CiberCuba reported that breakfast in the prison consisted of a piece of bread and a spoonful of scrambled eggs in a glass of sweetened water.
The meal included 30 grams of chicken, six centimeters of banana, about 60 grams of rice, 200 milliliters of soup, two tablespoons of liquid jam, and a piece of bread the size of a child's fist.
In 2022, Radu Martin, a Canadian prisoner in La Condesa, described that the authorities had little food to provide to the people, no medicine, and on top of that, they cut off the electricity for four to five hours a day.
The situation regarding the supply and quality of water is also a problem, which consequently affects the hygiene of the prison and its foreign inmates. According to Martin, "17 people in one dormitory were queuing for three showers and three toilets," which need to be flushed with buckets.
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