The Cuban activist Oraisa Estrada Velma denounced the repression of the Cuban regime against Afro-descendants at the Fifth Permanent Forum of the United Nations on People of African Descent, held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Estrada Velma, a member of the organization Cubanos por el Progreso y la Integración en Valencia (CPIV), based in Spain, participated in the forum with a speech lasting just over five minutes, during which she named specific cases of political prisoners and condemned physical and psychological torture against dissenters on the island.
"As an Afro-descendant, free, Cuban woman, today I raise my voice for those from whom everything has been attempted to be taken away. Their freedom, their dignity, and even their humanity," declared the activist, who also questioned the amnesty announced by the regime on April 3, 2026, noting that it did not represent a real liberation of political prisoners.
In her speech, Estrada Velma cited data from the semiannual report by Cubalex documenting 246 human rights violations in Cuba, and pointed out that, according to Prisoners Defenders, by the end of February 2026, there were 1,214 political prisoners on the island, many of whom were of African descent.
Among the cases mentioned is that of Donaida Pérez Paseiro, president of the Asociación Yoruba Libre, who has been detained several times by Cuban authorities after having been released.
In the midst of her speech, the Cuban official delegation attempted to silence her by invoking a UN regulation article, a maneuver to interrupt the intervention that is not new.
In 2018, the Cuban ambassador to the UN had a similar incident when attempting to prevent Cuban activists from speaking in international forums, highlighting the regime's systematic pattern of silencing critical voices even beyond its borders.
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