The Cuban regime is attempting to change the narrative regarding the situation of the teenager Jonathan David Muir Burgos with a carefully disseminated image in which the minor is seen playing the piano at a cultural event inside the Canaleta prison in Ciego de Ávila, where he is being held.
The scene, promoted by the official platform Razones de Cuba, shows Jonathan standing, smiling, in front of a keyboard, in what they present as evidence that his health condition is not as serious as has been reported on social media and by activists.
However, beyond the image, concerns persist. The official version itself acknowledges that the young man is ill and needs treatment, although it attempts to discredit the claims about his physical deterioration by attributing them to an alleged "disinformation campaign."
The disseminated message insists that photographs showing Jonathan hospitalized are from previous years and not representative of his current state. Nevertheless, it avoids clearly addressing the essential questions: what is his diagnosis today? What medical care is he receiving within the prison system? Why is he still imprisoned under those conditions?
For many Cubans both on and off the island, the image of the piano does not dispel doubts; rather, it deepens them. The use of a sick minor in a public act within prison, far from conveying reassurance, reinforces the perception that the regime seeks to control the narrative rather than provide transparency about its real situation.
The minor's own father, the evangelical pastor Elier Muir Ávila, has repeatedly denied the regime's narrative: "My son is indeed sick, and he does need to be treated," he said.
In earlier statements, the father had been even more emphatic: "He is malnourished, losing more and more weight each day. He is very thin", and he warned that "his life is at risk."
An image of someone playing a keyboard does not refute any of the specific complaints from the family: Jonathan receives only one meal a day in a disposable cup, suffers from untreated bedbug infections, experiences severe dyshidrosis and infections from streptococcus and staphylococcus, and has two intestinal parasites without medical attention.
In a desperate call to his father at 1:45 AM on April 23, the teenager pleaded, "Dad, please, get me out of here, Dad, I can't take it anymore."
In that same call, he added, "The bedbugs are bothering me again; they won't let me sleep, they bite me, they are infecting my skin, and I can feel my brain that it won't be able to take it anymore."
The mother of the minor, Pastor Minervina Burgos López, broke her silence when Jonathan had been imprisoned for 37 days to describe episodes of disorientation and vasovagal crises: "He is having crises: he falls asleep and when he wakes up, he is disoriented, he doesn't remember where he is, he can't locate himself well."
Jonathan was arrested on March 16, 2026, after participating in the protests on March 13 in Morón, triggered by daily power outages of more than 26 hours and extreme food shortages. He was transferred to Canaleta, a maximum-security adult prison, despite his minority status, and charged with the crime of sabotage, a charge that could result in a prison sentence of seven to 15 years.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures to the minor through Resolution 30/2026, considering that their rights to life, personal integrity, and health are at risk of irreparable harm. The Cuban regime did not respond to the prior request that the body sent on April 10.
Reasons of Cuba is an instrument of State Security associated with Humberto López, a state television journalist and member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba. Meta blocked his Facebook and Instagram accounts in May 2025 for violations of community standards, and in 2022, it dismantled a network of nearly a thousand fake accounts coordinated to amplify his propaganda.
The congressman Mario Díaz-Balart reiterated his demand last Tuesday: “From the United States, we demand FREEDOM now for Jonathan David Muir Burgos! No minor should be pursued or imprisoned for raising their voice against a dictatorship”.
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