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Jenni M. Taboada published a heartbreaking message on Saturday on her public Facebook profile after visiting the Combinado del Este prison in Havana, where her son Duannis Dabel León Taboada, a political prisoner from the 11J protests, has been incarcerated for almost five years.
"What is the remedy when the soul bleeds?... Three months without seeing you, child of my life. Today I understood that I won't see you again until you are free... Today was your visit and I only brought food; I didn't see you," the mother wrote, accompanying the text with a photo of herself in which her expression reflects sadness and the symbol of Freedom.
According to reports from February of this year, Duannis voluntarily refuses to receive family visits, phone calls, and other prison benefits as a form of silent protest for his release, which would explain the impossibility of the reunion.
Duannis Dabel León Taboada is 24 years old and was arrested on July 16, 2021, five days after the historic protests on July 11, in the municipality of Diez de Octubre, in Havana.
He was initially sentenced to 21 years in prison for sedition, accused of damage to a police patrol. After an appeal process, the sentence was reduced to 14 years. His family claims that he only protested peacefully.
The history of reprisals against the family is extensive. In July 2025, Duannis began a hunger strike that lasted for 12 days at the Combinado del Este; he ended it on July 30 after receiving a visit from his mother. In August of that year, he was punished by the prison authorities, and a month later, five women assaulted his sister in Havana. In February 2026, an officer beat him and he was transferred to a punishment cell.
On January 19, 2026, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures in favor of Duannis and his mother, recognizing serious and irreparable risks to their lives, integrity, and health. The measures were also extended to Jenni M. Taboada due to the threats she has received from State Security agents.
The testimony from the mother arrives three days after the Cuban regime announced a pardon for 2,010 inmates, touted as a humanitarian gesture during Holy Week.
However, that pardon expressly excludes those convicted of "crimes against authority," a category under which most of the prisoners from the 11J were prosecuted, including Duannis.
Human rights organizations report alarming figures: Justicia 11J records at least 760 political prisoners in Cuba, 358 of whom are from the events of July 11, while Prisoners Defenders raises the total number to 1,214.
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