Lumey Guzmán Fernández, a 44-year-old self-employed individual residing in the Alamar neighborhood of Havana East, is entering her tenth day of imprisonment this Sunday at the El Vivac prison after being arrested for broadcasting a live video on Facebook in which she denounced the electrical crisis and directly confronted the highest figures of the Cuban regime.
According to a report by Martí Noticias, the arrest occurred on July 9, just hours after Guzmán broadcast live from her neighborhood, where she had been without electricity for over 90 hours.
In the video, the woman spoke bluntly to Miguel Díaz-Canel, Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez, and Lis Cuesta Peraza: "This video is for the president who says that Cuba resists with dignity. This video is for the son of a b**** Bruno (Rodríguez) who says that Cuba is an economy. This video is for Machi (Lis Cuesta) who says that Cuba is light. This video is for the people of zone six in Alamar, …take off the blindfold."
He also called on his neighbors to take to the streets: "We can't take it anymore. We've been without electricity for over ninety-six hours. They turn it on for a moment and five seconds later, they take it away again. To the streets, zone six. Enough with so much communism. Down with the dictatorship. Homeland and life."
At the end of the video, she made a direct warning to the authorities: "I am ready; if you want, come and get me, I can't take it anymore."
She was summoned that same afternoon at 4:30 to the Alamar police station and was arrested on the spot upon confirming that she was the author of the publication.
After passing through the Cojímar station, on July 15, she was transferred to El Vivac, where she is currently held in preventive detention, isolated and without the right to bail.
His brother Rodney Guzmán, a resident of Tampa, Florida, described the conditions of confinement: "They are treating her like a criminal, and all she did was speak the truth that many Cubans are too afraid to tell."
Rodney also specified that access to his sister is practically non-existent: "Food can't be brought to her, and she can't be seen. We were allowed to bring hygiene items, clothes, and cigarettes. That's all they allow. Formally, a visit to see her and sit down with her has not happened."
Authorities are prosecuting Guzmán for the alleged crime of contempt, although the family fears that they may fabricate sedition charges against him for his calls to the public to demonstrate in the streets.
All of her profiles and videos on social media were deleted, and it is unclear whether this was due to the actions of the repressive forces or if she was compelled to do so.
The case is not isolated. Guzmán already had a history of digital activism: in April 2026, he sent a direct message to Díaz-Canel on Instagram, and in May he published a viral video in which he stated: "We live in a place that cannot be called a country, where we have neither dreams, nor rights, nor hope."
Organizations such as Justicia 11J and the collective Fuera de la Caja Cuba described his detention as a "reprisal incompatible with international human rights standards" and demanded his immediate release.
Prisoners Defenders registers Guzmán on its list of political prisoners under the category of provisional detention, at a time when Cuba reaches a historical record of 1,306 political prisoners, according to that organization, on the fifth anniversary of 11J.
The energy context that prompted the video is equally severe: on July 16, the electricity generation deficit reached 2,240 MW during peak hours, with only 990 MW available against a demand of 3,200 MW, leaving 69% of the demand unmet across the country.
Related videos:
Filed under: