Related videos:
Minervina Burgos López, mother of the Cuban teenager Jonathan David Muir Burgos, issued a desperate plea to the international community during the program "La Noche" on NTN24 for the regime to release her 16-year-old son, a political prisoner in the maximum-security Canaleta prison in Ciego de Ávila since March 16.
Jonathan was arrested along with his father, the evangelical pastor Elier Muir Ávila, after responding to a police summons days after participating in the protests in Morón triggered by power outages exceeding 26 hours a day. The regime accuses him of sabotage—a charge that carries a prison sentence of seven to 15 years—for having taken to the streets to shout "freedom" and demand the restoration of electrical service.
"I ask everyone who can help us, from the bottom of my heart, to please do something to get my child out of that place," Minervina stated on NTN24.
The mother recounted that her son pleads with her daily, "Please, get me out of here, Mom. I can’t stand being in this place."
Jonathan suffers from severe dyshidrosis, a chronic dermatological condition that in 2021 led to generalized sepsis and worsens with stress, manifesting on his hands, feet, and other parts of his body. Minervina reported that his health is deteriorating in prison, where she can only see him every 15 days, and he has also experienced episodes of diarrhea.
"He is very sad and very anxious, a result of his illness as well, which is causing his health to deteriorate there in that place," the mother stated.
The teenager has a medical appointment at a hospital in Washington D.C. scheduled for May 20, which the regime is preventing him from attending, and two days after his arrest, he was supposed to begin treatment with Hebertrans, which he has also not received.
Parallel to the physical deterioration, the regime launched a propaganda campaign. The official medium Razones de Cuba published images of Jonathan playing a keyboard in prison with the message, "The piano doesn't lie. And Jonathan... there he is, safe and sound." Cubadebate also disseminated AI-manipulated photos showing the minor in intimate situations with an unknown man, images that the family denounced as fabricated and that the medium later removed.
"They took him out with that man we don’t even know who he is, that my son doesn’t recognize, and we know it was a setup, fabricated," Minervina reported.
The mother explained the purpose of that campaign: "They are trying to discredit us and make the public believe that the child is not sick, that he is happy and content in that place, which is not true."
Cubalex reported the revictimization of the adolescent and the use of his image without consent as a serious violation of his rights, given that he is a minor.
On April 20, Mike Hammer, head of the U.S. mission in Cuba, made a video call to Jonathan's father to express the Trump administration's concern: "We are worried about him, he has our support, and we will see what we can do to achieve his release." Hammer also stated publicly that "in any civilized society, freedom of expression is not a crime" and that Jonathan "should be released immediately."
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures to Jonathan on April 24 through Resolution 30/2026, considering that his rights to life, personal integrity, and health are at risk of irreparable harm. Cuba did not respond to the prior request sent on April 10.
Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart warned this Wednesday that if anything happens to the young man, the regime will be responsible and demanded his immediate release.
Filed under: