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Jonathan David Muir Burgos, the 16-year-old teenager imprisoned in the Canaletas jail in Ciego de Ávila, received his first family visit on Monday since his arrest nearly a month ago.
The evangelical pastor Mario Félix Lleonart, director of the Patmos Institute, reported to Martí Noticias that the parents of the minor — pastor Eliel Muir Ávila and Minervina Burgos — along with his siblings were able to see him, hug him, give him a Bible, and pray with him, after weeks without any contact.
Lleonart stressed that the family will not settle for visits: "The goal is not to see him alive in a month; the goal is to have him free in his home and at his church."
The pastor also reported that the authorities keep the families of political prisoners in a "vicious cycle" of limited visits, which are contingent on the behavior of the inmate and subject to arbitrary decisions.
Jonathan was arrested on March 16 along with his father when they both attended a police summons in Morón.
Pastor Eliel Muir was released hours later, but the teenager was transferred to the Technical Investigations Department of Ciego de Ávila and subsequently to Canaletas.
The protests that led to his detention erupted after a power outage lasting over 26 hours and food shortages. The demonstrators stormed the headquarters of the Communist Party in Morón, burned furniture, documents, and chanted slogans of "Freedom!" and "Down with the dictatorship!".
According to documentation from the organization Cubalex, at least 16 people were arrested in this context, including four minors. Two of those minors remain detained: Jonathan Muir Burgos and Cristian Crespo Álvarez, both aged 16.
The case of the teenager is particularly serious because he suffers from severe dyshidrosis, beta-hemolytic streptococcus, and staphylococcus, conditions that require ongoing treatment and are not being addressed in prison.
On March 25, the Provincial Court of Ciego de Ávila rejected a habeas corpus petition filed on his behalf. Five days later, he was formally charged with the crime of sabotage, one of the most serious offenses in Cuban law, the same charge used against numerous protesters from July 11, 2021.
Canaletas also has a documented history of inhumane conditions. In February 2026, a riot was recorded there that resulted in at least eight inmates dead, according to the NGO Prisoner Defenders, triggered by the beating of a prisoner who requested food.
On April 10, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued an official request to Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, giving a five-day deadline to respond regarding the situation of the minor, which turned the case into a matter of formal international observation.
Lleonart conveyed the parents' gratitude to those who have supported the young man: "They sincerely thank everyone who has prayed, shown solidarity, and acted for their son." He concluded with a clear warning: "We continue to cry out until Jonathan is free."
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