Mike Hammer, mission chief of the United States Embassy in Cuba, published a video on Tuesday where he talks with the parents of Jonathan David Muir Burgos, a 16-year-old detained in Canaleta prison, in Ciego de Ávila, and demands his immediate release.
Jonathan has been in prison for over a month after being arrested on March 16 along with his father, the evangelical pastor Elier Muir Ávila, when both went to a police summons in Morón.
In the video, Hammer directly asks the pastor: "I wanted to express our concern for your son, for Jonathan. What news do you have?"
The father responded that the teenager is ill and that the conditions in the prison are very poor: "He just called us a moment ago, the boy is sick. He has dyshidrosis, a skin condition."
The pastor also recounted his son's emotional decline: "One says, Dad, I can't take it anymore."
The case of Jonathan has generated a wide international response. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights requested explanations from the Cuban regime, and U.S. Congressman Carlos Giménez called for the release of the minor.
The teenager was formally charged with the crime of sabotage, while the Cuban judiciary denied both the habeas corpus petition and the request for release filed by his family.
Jonathan received his first family visit on April 13, more than three weeks after his detention. His sister sent a public message to Miguel Díaz-Canel demanding the release of the minor.
Hammer's intervention is part of a systematic campaign by the Embassy that has highlighted cases of political prisoners in Cuba since November 2024.
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