They report the murder of Manuel de Jesús Guillén, a political prisoner from the 11J protests in Cuba

Activists and opposition organizations reported on Sunday the murder of Manuel de Jesús Guillén Esplugas, a Cuban political prisoner serving his sentence at the Combinado del Este prison in Havana.

Ana Belkis Ferrer, through José Daniel Ferrer's account on the social network X, reported that Guillén, a member of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), promoter of Cuba Decide, and participant in the protests on July 11th, was allegedly a victim of murder.

According to reports circulated on social media, Guillén, 30 years old, is said to have been murdered under circumstances that have not been clarified by the authorities.

"Manuel de Jesús Guillén Esplugas has been vilely murdered, confined in Combinado del Este prison," he stated.

Belkis expressed her outrage by asking, “How much longer will those criminals, tyrants, drug traffickers, and terrorists go unpunished?”, demanding justice for the victims of repression in Cuba.

Additionally, he reiterated the demand for freedom for all those detained for political reasons in the country, including José Daniel Ferrer, the leader of UNPACU, who remains imprisoned under conditions reported as inhumane.

The opposition leader Rosa María Payá, head of the Cuba Decide movement, denounced the murder of Guillén on the social network X, labeling the Cuban regime as “a government of killers, a cruel and torturous dictatorship,” and stated: “They beat him to death!”

"He was 30 years old, a political prisoner for protesting on July 11, and an advocate of Cuba Decide," he noted.

He also pointed to the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel and General Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas as being responsible for the young Cuban.

In 2023, the young protester from the 11J spent more than a year and a half in prison, with no date set for his trial nor any information provided about the prosecution's request.

Her mother, Dania María Esplugas, filed a second Habeas Corpus petition with the Provincial Court of Havana demanding her immediate release, after the first request was dismissed in January by the State Security Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.

Guillén's case has been highlighted by opponents as an example of the legal violations committed by the Cuban regime in relation to the social unrest of July 11th.

Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, coordinator of the Human Rights Center, emphasized that the government does not even adhere to the principles of its own socialist legality in these processes.

Guillén, 27 years old and a resident of Old Havana, was violently detained at his home on July 17, 2021, by State Security agents after he shared videos on social media that documented his participation in the protests on July 11.

The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights reported the death in November of political prisoner Luis Barrios Díaz, which was attributed to alleged negligence and irregularities by prison authorities. Barrios had been detained since the protests on July 11, 2021.

Barrios, 37 years old, died at La Covadonga Hospital in Havana due to respiratory complications.

Barrios had shown worrying symptoms since August. He was admitted to the infirmary of the 1580 prison in San Miguel del Padrón and later transferred to the mentioned hospital for specialized care.

However, despite medical warnings, the authorities decided to return him to prison, citing a lack of resources for transportation and hospital monitoring.

In October, political prisoner Gerardo Díaz Alonso, 35, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison for participating in the July 2021 protests in the city of Cárdenas, Matanzas, passed away due to a heart attack.

Díaz Alonso, who was also a father of two children, was detained in the high-security Canaleta prison in Ciego de Ávila, as reported on Facebook by Aylín Sardiña Fernández.

The protester from La Güinera and political prisoner from 11J, Yosandri Mulet Almarales, passed away in August due to the severe injuries sustained during a suicide attempt that left him between life and death for several days.

This was confirmed by the Center for Documentation of Cuban Prisons, a non-governmental organization that reported on August 22 the second and final suicide attempt of the political prisoner, which occurred during a work leave from the penitentiary where he was serving forced labor.

The non-governmental organization Cubalex, specialized in monitoring human rights in Cuba and providing free legal assistance on the island, published a report on repression in the country during the first half of 2024, which resulted in 26 deaths while in custody.

Conditions in Cuban prisons remain alarming, with evidence of torture, cruel and inhumane treatment, and a severe lack of medical care that contributes to deaths in custody.

The figure is even more striking when looking back over the last two years, during which 56 deaths have occurred among individuals in the custody of the country's authorities, with death being the final outcome in these cases.

Currently, the Cuban regime has imprisoned 554 people for participating in the anti-government protests of July 2021 in dozens of cities and towns across Cuba, the largest recorded in the country.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Assassination of Manuel de Jesús Guillén and Repression in Cuba