"Triple Champion", is how the content creator José Martínez refers to Javier Ernesto Martín Gutiérrez, the Cuban mixed martial arts fighter known as "Spiderman," in a video poem published this Sunday on Facebook, following his violent arrest last Thursday by State Security agents.
In the 45-second audiovisual, but with a powerful message, Martínez transforms the repression suffered by the athlete into a poetic plea against the dictatorship. In just a few hours, the material amassed thousands of views and hundreds of reactions, reflecting the impact that Spiderman's case has had on the Cuban community both on and off the island.
The poem opens with a direct statement: "He is a triple champion, a martial champion in his weight class, a champion for his bravery, and for that, a champion in the heart of Cuba."
The three titles that Martínez bestows upon Javier are not incidental: the first acknowledges his status as the champion of the Cuban Fighting League in the 135-pound category; the second recognizes his bravery in protesting alone for more than eight consecutive days from the balcony of his home on 31st Avenue in Marianao, Havana; the third represents the place he has earned in the memory and affection of his compatriots, who are fed up with their voices being silenced and their protests repressed.
"I want to recognize you, Javier, for choosing to embark on a path of coherence," recites the Cuban psychologist and entrepreneur, before adding: "Your example of resilience is not diminished by being just you. You broke the protocol of a city that is dying."
Since approximately April 15, Spiderman held peaceful protests from his balcony in which he denounced the social crisis, hunger, drug use known as "el kímico," and street violence, going so far as to declare: "The communist system is dead."
Last Thursday, plainclothes agents intercepted him on 90th Street between 41 and 43, beat him for resisting, and took him in an unmarked vehicle to Villa Marista, the historic base of the Cuban political police.
His wife, Lisandra Cuza, confirmed Spiderman's whereabouts in Villa Marista on Friday and reported that the authorities from MININT acknowledged he had been "beaten for resisting."
The regime, through its propaganda page Razones de Cuba, attempted to justify the detention by suggesting that Martín Gutiérrez suffers from a psychiatric disorder and presenting his transfer as a "clinical evaluation, not torture." The use of mental illness as a political weapon in Cuba has deep roots in Castroism and has been documented by international human rights organizations.
Among the most direct verses of Martínez's poem are those that highlight the contradiction between the official discourse and reality: "You showed that those who want to express themselves freely are imprisoned. And the president recently lied to the journalist in the interview, denying that reality. You revealed the truth of the communist regime."
The reference is to Miguel Díaz-Canel, who on April 12 denied to NBC News the existence of political prisoners in Cuba, describing that narrative as a "great lie" and "slander," while hundreds of people, including a minor such as Jonathan Muir, are behind bars for expressing their opposition to the regime.
Just two weeks after the president's statements, State Security detained Spiderman for peacefully protesting from his balcony.
The case of the fighter is not an isolated incident. His arrest and the regime's response occur within a context where independent organizations estimate the number of political prisoners in the country to be in the hundreds, many of whom were jailed following the events of July 11, 2021.
A massive Easter pardon in 2026 freed more than 2,010 inmates for common crimes but explicitly excluded political prisoners, highlighting that the regime clearly distinguishes between those it considers criminals and those it views as ideological enemies.
The poem by José Martínez concludes with a phrase that encapsulates the feelings of thousands of Cubans: Javier Ernesto Martín Gutiérrez not only won a sports championship but, by standing alone against the power, revealed to the world the truth of the tyranny that confined him for that reason.
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