On the fifth anniversary of the protests of July 11, 2021, the Cuban lawyer and activist Fernando Almeyda published a message on Facebook this Saturday in which he candidly recalls the physical aggression he suffered during the demonstrations and reaffirms his decision to have taken to the streets.
"I knew what I was getting into and I knew what I was up against. And I was very lucky," wrote Almeyda while commemorating what he himself calls a five-year anniversary of 11J.
The activist, now exiled in Serbia with refugee status, does not shy away from the details of what he experienced that day: "They broke my face, but at least I wasn't killed like Diubis Laurencio, nor imprisoned like so many hundreds."
Diubis Laurencio Tejeda, 36 years old, was the only deceased officially recognized by the regime during the 11J events. He died on July 12, 2021, in the La Güinera neighborhood, in Arroyo Naranjo, Havana, from a gunshot wound to the back attributed to Sub-Lieutenant Yoennis Pelegrín Hernández. The Military Prosecutor's Office classified the incident as "justifiable self-defense" and the officer received no conviction.
Almeyda was a co-founder of the Archipiélago movement, a platform for Cuban civil society that sent a letter to Díaz-Canel recognizing the legitimacy of protests and denouncing repression. He was also one of the promoters of the Civic March for Change and called for the march on November 15, 2021, which was suppressed before it could take place.
The pursuit by the political police forced him to leave Cuba in February 2022 for Serbia, where he obtained political asylum. From there, he continues his activism and his work as a human rights lawyer.
In his post, Almeyda rejects any attempt to erase his participation in those events: "I am aware that many would prefer this part of my history to be omitted. And for that reason, I remind them of it."
The activist also reframes the significance of that day in his own life journey: "11J didn't change my life; I changed my life because of 11J. And I’m at peace with that."
The fifth anniversary of the 11J is commemorated in a somber context for human rights in Cuba. According to the organization Justicia 11J, 338 people directly linked to the protests are still serving sentences. In May 2026, the total number of political prisoners on the island reached a historic high of between 1,260 and 1,281 individuals, according to various human rights organizations.
The regime released 2,010 prisoners on April 2, 2026, as a supposed "humanitarian gesture," but explicitly excluded those convicted of "crimes against authority," the legal figure used to criminalize the protesters from July 11. This Saturday, the U.S. Embassy in Havana demanded the release of political prisoners, citing among others the case of the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara.
Almeyda concluded his message with an assertion of identity that encapsulates five years of consequences embraced: "For the happiness of my friends and the curse of my enemies, this is also me."
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