Mike Hammer, mission chief of the United States Embassy in Cuba, visited the wife of the fighter Javier Ernesto Martín Gutiérrez, known as "Spiderman," who was detained by the Cuban regime after peacefully protesting from the balcony of his home in Marianao, Havana.
The visit was documented in a video published by the Embassy in X under the hashtag #WithCubansOnTheirFeet. In it, the fighter's wife recounted how plainclothes agents intercepted Javier as he was leaving training: "They caught him off guard. They threw him to the ground, they beat him up, they mistreated him."
The woman described the detention as "practically a kidnapping" and warned that, even if her husband were released, his sports career in Cuba would be ruined: "We know that right now, if he is released, his sports career will be destroyed, and he won't be able to do anything here anymore."
Javier Martín Gutiérrez is the mixed martial arts champion of the Cuban Fighting League. He started his protests from the balcony of his home approximately between April 15 and 19, denouncing the social crisis, hunger, youth violence, and blackouts that are affecting Cuba.
He was arrested on April 24 and imprisoned in Villa Marista, the headquarters of State Security in Havana, where he reported being beaten and starving during his detention. Cuban authorities accuse him of "public disorder," a charge that his family denies.
On May 25, Javier was transferred to the Combinado del Este while his defense awaited a response to an appeal against preventive detention.
During the visit, Hammer conveyed the support of the Trump administration and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the Cubans who are demonstrating: "We are concerned about the situation of the entire Cuban population, the everyday Cubans, those who go out to express their conditions and who clearly accept that a change certainly has not been functioning."
This visit is part of an active public diplomacy strategy that Hammer has implemented since his arrival in November 2024, traveling across all provinces of the country and meeting with dissidents and family members of political prisoners. Last Monday, Hammer visited political prisoner Alexander Díaz Rodríguez in Artemisa, and last Thursday he was in San Antonio de los Baños with opposition members and with the mother of political prisoner Denis Hernández Ramírez from the 11J protests.
The case of "Spiderman" fits into a pattern of systematic repression documented by human rights organizations. Prisoners Defenders reported 1,260 political prisoners in Cuba in April 2026, a figure that reflects the extent of the regime's persecution against those who dare to express their discontent.
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