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The Republican congressman Mario Díaz-Balart demanded this Tuesday the immediate release of Cuban political prisoners, and denounced that the regime's repression is "increasingly brutal."
In a message on X, the Cuban American posted images of four detainees: Jonathan Muir Burgos, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Castillo, and Saylí Navarro.
"The repression of the regime in Cuba is becoming increasingly brutal, with over a thousand political prisoners behind bars, including minors like Jonathan Muir Burgos," wrote the legislator for the 26th district of Florida, one of the most active U.S. congressmen in the Cuban cause.
The case of Jonathan Muir Burgos is the most recent and one of the most alarming.
The 16-year-old was arrested in Morón on March 16 at the Technical Investigation Department (DTI) in Ciego de Ávila, after attending a police summons with his father, the evangelical pastor Elier Muir Ávila, regarding his alleged involvement in the protests on March 13 and 14.
The father was released that same day at 5:30 in the afternoon, but Jonathan remained in detention.
The family reports that the minor, who suffers from dyshidrosis, a skin condition that requires constant treatment, is not receiving adequate medical care.
His parents filed a habeas corpus petition and requested bail, but the authorities indicated that both requests would be denied. The mother was also summoned by the Prosecutor's Office as an additional pressure measure.
The protests that led to Jonathan's arrest are part of the largest wave of demonstrations in Cuba since July 11, 2021.
Starting March 6, thousands of Cubans took to the streets motivated by seven consecutive nights of blackouts and a severe shortage of food and medicine.
In Morón, during the early hours of March 14, protesters set fire to the furnishings of the Communist Party offices; a 15-year-old minor was injured by gunfire.
Cubalex recorded 156 protests and at least 47 arrests as of March 17 across the island.
The other three prisoners mentioned by Díaz-Balart have been incarcerated for years. Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, founder of the San Isidro Movement, is serving a five-year sentence since July 2021 in the maximum-security prison of Guanajay and began a hunger strike in protest from prison in December 2025.
Maykel "Osorbo" Castillo, a rapper and co-author of "Patria y Vida," and winner of two Latin Grammys in 2021, was sentenced to nine years in June 2022 and is currently in Kilo 5 y Medio prison in Pinar del Río.
Saylí Navarro, an independent journalist and daughter of the opposition figure Félix Navarro, is serving an eight-year sentence for her involvement in the protests on July 11 in Perico, Matanzas, and she was not included in the list of 51 prisoners that the regime announced would be released following discussions with the Vatican.
According to Prisoners Defenders, Cuba had 1,207 political prisoners in January 2026, a number that rose to 1,214 in February, with 28 new arrests and only 21 releases.
Díaz-Balart concluded his message with a direct appeal to the international community: "I reaffirm my unwavering solidarity with the Cuban people and call on the international community to do the same and condemn this corrupt and murderous regime."
And he added: "The people of Cuba will be free, and it will be thanks to the courage of those who, despite enormous personal sacrifices, dare to raise their voices against repression and human rights violations."
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