The Cuban political prisoner Roilán Álvarez Rensoler is in a critical condition after completing 45 days on a hunger strike, while remaining hospitalized under the custody of authorities in the province of Holguín, reported the platform Cuba Decide this Sunday.
According to the organization, the activist's health continues to deteriorate while his family remains in the hospital, reporting that his condition worsens "minute by minute."
Álvarez Rensoler is a member of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu) and a promoter of the Cuba Decide initiative.
In an audio shared by family members on social media X, her sister Arianna Álvarez reported that doctors warned that the prolonged fasting has significantly worsened her physical condition and that she could even go into cardiac arrest at any moment.
He explained that the activist refuses to have his vital signs taken, which prevents the medical staff from accurately understanding how his body is evolving.
"They can't take his blood pressure or vital signs because he won't allow it," a family member recounted after speaking with a doctor who treats him at the hospital.
Álvarez Rensoler began the hunger strike in protest of what he considers his arbitrary detention, which occurred on January 30 when he was arrested along with other activists during protest actions.
The opposition member was hospitalized after completing over 30 days of fasting, after his physical condition began to deteriorate severely.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly warned that their lives are at extreme risk.
The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights previously warned that each passing day increases the danger to his physical integrity and demanded immediate guarantees for his medical care.
The family members of the opposition figure also reported that for several days they received no clear information about his whereabouts or his health condition, prompting them to go directly to a police station in Holguín to demand explanations from the authorities.
The case has once again raised concern among activists and human rights organizations, which highlight recurring patterns in the treatment of detained opponents in Cuba, including the isolation of political prisoners, the lack of transparency regarding their situation, and prolonged physical deterioration while in state custody.
Alarms have also been heightened due to reports of deaths among Cuban political prisoners during hunger strikes.
In 2020, the opposition figure Yosvany Arostegui died after more than 40 days of fasting in a prison in Camagüey.
Álvarez Rensoler had previously taken part in a similar protest. In 2020, he was released from Mar Verde prison in Santiago de Cuba after spending 30 days on a hunger strike while serving a one-year sentence for charges such as "hoarding," "disobedience," and "assault," offenses that opponents consider part of the criminalization against dissent on the island.
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