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Leonardo Romero Negrín was released this Friday after being detained for two days, having been violently arrested on Wednesday during a protest in Centro Habana.
The journalist and researcher Lisbeth Moya González confirmed the news on her Facebook profile: the activist was fined 2,000 Cuban pesos.
"It was achieved. Leonardo Romero Negrín is free. It wouldn't have been possible without you. He was released with a fine of 2000 pesos and many people who care about him," wrote Moya González, who had led the public pressure campaign to demand his release.
Romero Negrín was arrested on Wednesday night at the corner of Ánimas and Consulado while participating in a pot-banging protest by neighbors against the prolonged power outages and lack of water. Police officers charged at him and took him to the station on Zanja Street, in the same municipality.
The authorities opened a criminal case against him for the alleged crime of "public disorder", which initially raised concerns that he would not be released that same day.
Family and friends waited for hours in front of the station without receiving any concrete information: they were first promised updates at 8:00 am, then at 10:00 am, and finally at 2:00 pm.
The detention sparked a wave of solidarity. The renowned filmmaker Fernando Pérez recorded a message of support during a blackout, which Moya González shared this Friday.
"I'm in the middle of a blackout, but I have received the news that Leonardo Romero, a young man who expresses his ideas, who wants to build, who wants to participate, is in prison," said the director.
"Unless many young people are heard and can participate, we will have a broken Cuba, not the Cuba we dream of," he added.
Professor Alina Bárbara López Hernández also shared Pérez's video and joined the call for the activist's release, even though she had been under house arrest since June 18, when she was detained while heading to a peaceful demonstration in Matanzas.
Organizations such as Cubalex, Justicia 11J, and the Academic Freedom Observatory alerted diplomatic missions in Cuba, UNESCO, the European Union, the IACHR, and Amnesty International.
Cubalex stated that the case "confirms a pattern of persecution against political prisoners in Cuba," who are subjected to "surveillance, threats, arbitrary detentions, and legal proceedings based on false accusations."
This is not the first time that Romero Negrín has confronted the regime's repression.
He was arrested in April 2021 for carrying a sign on Obispo Street, violently detained during the protests of July 11, 2021 — where he remained in prison for six days and reported beatings — arrested in March 2025 for protesting with a blank sign in Central Park, and detained several times during the first months of 2026.
The release occurs amidst an unprecedented energy crisis and a wave of protests that has shaken Cuba since June. The electricity deficit reached a record of 2,211 MW on Thursday, leaving approximately 69% of the country without power.
Moya González celebrated the freedom of Romero Negrín as a collective victory, but warned that the struggle continues: "We got Leo out, but there are many still inside."
"For the son of Wilber Aguilar Bravo, for the children of Marta Perdomo, for Alina Bárbara López Hernández and her dignified protest, for Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and for all those who are imprisoned for protesting, for fighting, for raising their voices, for dreaming of a Cuba where we all belong, we must continue."
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