The Cuban activist Luis Robles Elizástigui, known as “the young man with the banner,” managed to leave Cuba for Spain after years of imprisonment, harassment, and threats from the regime.
His departure took State Security by surprise, as they had pressured him for months to remain silent about his experience in prison.
In statements to CiberCuba during a press conference this Wednesday, Robles claimed that “They wanted me to leave, but without speaking.”
He stated that when the repressor in charge of monitoring called his home, he was surprised to learn that the family had left the island discreetly and without prior notice to the authorities.
Robles, accompanied by his mother Yindra Elizástigui and his seven-year-old son, arrived this Monday at the Adolfo Suárez Madrid Airport, marking the beginning of a new phase in freedom.
In statements made before his departure, he asserted that State Security was aware of his desire to leave the country, but they imposed conditions on him.
“I was told that the day my sanction ended, my desire was to leave because I suffered, and my entire family suffered threats. They were interested in me leaving, but with the prohibition of discussing what I experienced in prison, under threat,” he recounted.
The activist explained that he decided to leave without revealing how he would do it to avoid being intercepted: “I decided to leave the country, but I didn't say how. When they found out, I was already gone, and that took them by surprise because I didn't give them access to my life.”
Robles, 32 years old and originally from Havana, was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International following his arrest in December 2020 for holding a banner in the central San Rafael Boulevard with the message: “Freedom, no more repression, #FreeDenis”, in support of the rapper Denis Solís.
The peaceful act, captured by passersby and spread on social media, became a symbol of citizen resistance and was included in the music video for the anthem "Patria y Vida". Paradoxically, that video was used by the Prosecutor's Office as "evidence" against him.
During the trial, Robles was charged with "resistance" and "enemy propaganda," despite the footage showing that he did not resist when he was arrested nor incited violence.
In March 2022, he was sentenced to five years in prison in a ruling that justified his punishment by claiming that he had "responded to a call from the influencer Alexander Otaola" and that his message "sought to destabilize internal order."
The judicial decision was heavily criticized by international human rights organizations. In 2024, the United States government sanctioned the judges and prosecutors involved in the case —Gladys María Padrón Canals, María Elena Fornari Conde, Juan Sosa Orama, and Yanaisa Matos Legrá— for their role in an “arbitrary detention” and “serious violation of human rights.”
These officials and their families are prohibited from entering U.S. territory.
During his incarceration at the Eastern Combined Prison, Robles was subjected to punishment and isolation, while his family faced constant harassment. His brother, Lester Fernández, was arrested and fined 7,000 pesos after being accused of "illegal exit from the country," without any evidence against him.
Her mother, Yindra Elizástigui, became one of the most active voices for the freedom of political prisoners, publicly denouncing the abuses of the regime. “We must continue to defend the innocent, because our children are not criminals,” she stated in 2023 after another denial of release for her son.
Graduated in Computer Science, Robles had already expressed critical ideas before his public protest. Days before his arrest, he recorded a video in which he stated: “We sincerely wish for a change of system, because communism has turned this country into a hell where it is impossible to breathe peace and freedom.”
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