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The Cuban regime is attempting to change the narrative surrounding the situation of the teenager Jonathan David Muir Burgos with a carefully distributed image of the minor playing the piano at a cultural event inside the Canaleta prison in Ciego de Ávila, where he is detained.
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 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 requires treatment, although it attempts to discredit the allegations regarding his physical deterioration by attributing them to an alleged "disinformation campaign."
The disseminated message insists that photographs of Jonathan in the hospital are from previous years and not reflective of his current state. Nevertheless, it avoids clearly addressing the central questions: What is his diagnosis today? What medical care is he receiving within the prison system? Why is he still incarcerated under those conditions?
For many Cubans inside and outside the island, the image of the piano does not dispel doubts but rather deepens them. The use of a sick minor in a public act within prison, far from conveying a sense of calm, reinforces the perception that the regime seeks to control the narrative rather than provide transparency about its actual situation.
The child's own father, the evangelical pastor Elier Muir Ávila, has repeatedly refuted the regime's narrative: "My son is indeed sick, and he does need to be treated," he has said.
In previous statements, the father had been even more emphatic: “He is malnourished, every day he is losing more and more weight. He is very thin”, and had warned that “his life is in danger.”
An image of someone playing a keyboard does not refute any of the specific accusations made by the family: Jonathan receives only one meal a day in a disposable cup, suffers from untreated bedbug infections, endures severe dyshidrosis and infections caused by 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 hurting me again, they won't let me sleep, they bite me, they're infecting my skin, and I feel like my brain can't 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, doesn’t remember where he is, and can’t find his bearings."
Jonathan was arrested on March 16, 2026, after participating in the protests on March 13 in Morón, triggered by daily power outages lasting over 26 hours and extreme food shortages. He was transferred to Canaleta, a maximum-security adult prison, despite being a minor, 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 organization sent on April 10.
Reasons of Cuba is a tool of State Security associated with Humberto López, a journalist from the state television and a 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 dismantled a network of nearly a thousand fake accounts coordinated to amplify his propaganda.
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 persecuted or imprisoned for raising their voice against a dictatorship”.
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