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The human rights organization Cubalex issued an urgent alert this Monday regarding three political prisoners on a hunger and thirst strike in the custody of the Cuban government.
The lives of these women are at risk due to the extension of their protests under conditions of detention that the organization itself describes as inhumane.
Yaquelín García Jaén, Yunaykis Linares Rodríguez, and Wendoline Campuzano are confined in various detention centers across the country. Their protests are in response to allegations of arbitrariness, abuses, and violations of fundamental rights committed against them by Cuban authorities.
Yaquelín García Jaén, a political prisoner held in the El Talaje women's prison in Granma, has been on a hunger strike since May 23. Last Saturday, according to her son's report, she also decided to initiate a thirst strike in protest because the authorities prevented him from seeing her and communicating with her.
With more than two weeks without food and several days without liquids, their health condition is causing extreme concern. Cubalex warns that the combination of both hunger strikes significantly increases the risk of severe dehydration, organ failure, and a fatal outcome.
Yunaykis Linares Rodríguez, political prisoner from the 11J who had obtained conditional release in 2025, declared a hunger and thirst strike last Thursday at the police station in El Capri, in Havana, where she remains detained.
She was arrested on June 2 during a spontaneous protest against the blackouts— which exceeded 20 hours a day— in the Santa Amalia neighborhood, Arroyo Naranjo municipality. From her cell, Linares denounced in a video: "I am beaten, they asphyxiated me, the police officer came and covered my mouth and nose to torture me. They denied me medical assistance and water."
According to information received from Cubalex, the authorities intend to revoke his parole, and his family has been informed of a possible transfer to a psychiatric institution, without any knowledge of the reasons for this measure or his current legal situation.
Wendoline Campuzano, daughter of the exiled sports journalist Armando Campuzano, declared a hunger and thirst strike after the sentence that condemns her to two years in prison was announced on June 2, and she was taken to the women’s prison El Guatao, in Havana.
The trial took place on April 15, and the prosecution initially requested six years in prison.
Her father publicly denounced that the sentence is a direct reprisal for his criticisms of the regime from exile and for the publication of his book "Cuba, the Titanic of the Caribbean." A State Security agent explicitly told Wendoline, "You're going to pay for your father's worm."
Until Wednesday, June 4th, Wendoline was still on hunger strike, although her lack of communication prevents any updates on her condition. There are also concerns about possible attempts at forced hydration to make her end her protest.
Cubalex demands immediate information regarding the health status and legal situation of the three women, as well as an end to the reprisals and mistreatment against them.
These cases occur in a context of increasing repression: Prisoners Defenders reported in May an absolute record of 1,260 political prisoners in Cuba, with reports of torture, death threats, and 14 minors imprisoned.
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