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More than 50 residents of Morón have signed a letter in defense of Jonathan David Muir Burgos, the 16-year-old who has been held in the maximum security prison of Canaleta, in Ciego de Ávila, since March 16, 2026, when he was arrested for participating in the protests on March 13.
His father, Pastor Elier Muir Ávila, of the Independent Church Time of Harvest, explained on the program "The News As They Are" on Radio Martí that the signatories are willing to testify in favor of the young man and reject the official narrative that attempts to portray him as a criminal.
"I already have 50 signatures collected from people willing to speak out and serve as witnesses, 50 signatures from neighbors who have the highest regard for their social conduct," the pastor stated.
This Saturday, as Jonathan reached 37 days in detention, his mother, Minervina Burgos López, broke her silence to directly appeal to the Cuban authorities: "I ask you, please release my son. He is sick, he has done nothing wrong, and all he asks is to be taken out of that place."
The conditions of confinement that the family describes are alarming. Jonathan receives only one meal a day—in a disposable cup of six to eight ounces, around four in the afternoon—and does not receive any food again until the next day.
The teenager suffers from severe dyshidrosis and infections caused by beta-hemolytic streptococcus and staphylococcus, which have weakened his immune system since 2021 when he was at risk of death. In prison, he was also found to have two untreated intestinal parasites.
His father reports that the mattresses and cells at Canaleta are infested with bedbugs and that Jonathan does not have access to soap or basic hygienic conditions.
In the early morning of Wednesday, April 23, at 1:45 a.m., the young man called his father from jail: "Dad, I'm desperate to get out. The bedbugs are bothering me again, they won't let me sleep, they're biting me, they're infecting my skin, and I feel like my brain can't take it anymore."
The pastor also reported attempts to fabricate false statements to incriminate the minor, including a document he refused to sign because it contained facts that his son never stated. "It is about creating a degrading record based on lies to condemn him to years in prison," he asserted.
The Morón Municipal Prosecutor's Office ordered provisional detention on April 2, accusing Jonathan of the crime of sabotage, with penalties that can range from seven to 15 years or more in aggravated cases. The Provincial Court of Ciego de Ávila rejected the habeas corpus appeals and the requests for a change of precautionary measure submitted by the defense.
The case has generated increasing international pressure. On April 24, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights adopted Resolution 30/2026, granting precautionary measures in favor of Jonathan, considering that his rights to life, personal integrity, and health "are at risk of irreparable harm in Cuba." The Cuban regime did not respond to the formal request sent on April 10 to Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, which demanded a reply within five days.
Mike Hammer, the mission chief of the United States Embassy in Cuba, met with the family on April 20 and was straightforward: "They should release him." Spanish MEP Raúl de la Hoz Quintano, from the Popular Party, raised the case in the European Parliament on Wednesday, April 23, and Cuban-American congressmen Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez have also demanded his release.
Jonathan is not the only minor incarcerated. Cubalex documented at least five minors under 18 detained following the protests in March 2026, four of them in Ciego de Ávila. Two remain imprisoned: Jonathan Muir Burgos and Cristian Crespo Álvarez, both 16 years old. Cuba reached a historic high of 1,250 political prisoners by the end of March, with 44 new arrests that month.
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