A month after the imprisonment of Jonathan David Muir Burgos, a 16-year-old held at the Canaleta Prison in Ciego de Ávila, his sister sent a message to the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel demanding answers regarding the situation of the minor.
The video, shared on Facebook by journalist Maylin Legañoa from the Telemundo 51 channel, features her sister Dayana Muir directly responding to the statements made by Díaz-Canel in a recent interview with NBC, where he claimed that there are no political prisoners in Cuba.
"Please, if there are no political prisoners in Cuba, then release my brother already," Dayana pleaded.
The young woman recalled that Jonathan is in preventive detention, having been formally accused of the crime of sabotage for his participation in the protests that took place in Morón.
"As a sister, I suffer from what is happening; it's nothing compared to what my mom and dad are feeling," she clarified.
Dayana noted that the family's biggest concern is the boy's health.
He explained that a photograph is circulating on social media showing Jonathan with sores on his skin, and clarified that, although it is a genuine photo, it is not current.
The image, which has gone viral, corresponds to a health crisis that the young man experienced in 2021, when severe dyshidrosis led to a generalized sepsis caused by two bacteria - a staphylococcus and a beta-hemolytic streptococcus - that chronically depressed his immune system.
The child's own father, the evangelical pastor Elier Muir Ávila, had specifically requested that those images not be disseminated as they are out of context and could harm the process for the release of his son.
"We are afraid it could become that way, because that dishydrosis starts to flare up under any tension or stress he may be experiencing," Dayana emphasized.
"My brother should not be in prison, as the only thing he did on March 13 was raise his voice asking for freedom, electricity, and food. So far, no evidence has been found to suggest otherwise," he emphasized.
Jonathan was arrested on March 16 along with his father when they responded to a police summons in Morón, following his alleged participation in the protests on March 13 in that municipality, which erupted due to a blackout lasting over 26 hours and the chronic shortage of food.
During those protests, citizens stormed the headquarters of the Communist Party in Morón, burned furniture and documents, and chanted slogans of "Freedom!" and "Down with the dictatorship!".
The father was released hours after the arrest, but Jonathan was transferred to the Technical Investigations Department of Ciego de Ávila and later to Canaleta Prison.
The case has a critical medical dimension: on March 18 -two days after his arrest- Jonathan was supposed to begin treatment with Hebertrans, a Cuban immunomodulator based on transfer factor, at a rate of one bulb per week for 10 weeks, which he never received.
Since 2023, the minor has a pending medical appointment at a hospital in Washington D.C. that has been rescheduled several times because the U.S. Embassy in Cuba has not granted the necessary humanitarian visa; the next appointment is scheduled for May 20th.
In Canaleta, Jonathan also lacks proper nutrition and the hygienic conditions required for his sensitive skin, as his family has reported. He needs to be free, his loved ones have insisted since day one.
On April 14, Jonathan received his first family visit since his detention: his parents and siblings were able to see him, hug him, give him a Bible, and pray with him.
On March 25, the Provincial Court of Ciego de Ávila rejected a habeas corpus petition filed on his behalf, and on March 30 he was formally charged with the crime of sabotage.
On April 10, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued an official request to the Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, giving him a five-day deadline to provide an account of the minor's situation.
Cubalex documented at least 16 people arrested during the protests in Morón, including four minors; two remain detained: Jonathan and Cristian de Jesús Crespo Álvarez, also 16 years old.
"The goal is not to see him alive in a month; the goal is to have him free at home and in his church."
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