Caridad Castro Ruiz announced this Sunday the release of her son, Kevin Damián Frómeta Castro, one of the young individuals imprisoned for participating in the protests on July 11, 2021. The young man regained his freedom after fully serving the five-year sentence imposed on him for the crime of sedition.
"Today, July 26, the feast day of Saint Anne, I inform you that my son Kevin Damián Frómeta Castro is coming home. I entrusted his return to Saint Anne, and she did not fail," she wrote on Facebook.
Caridad made it clear that the release did not result from a pardon or any penitentiary benefit.
"He is released with his certificate of freedom for completing his sentence until his last day. The wait is over," he stated.
According to Prisoners Defenders, Kevin Damián Frómeta Castro was arrested on July 27, 2021, when he was 19 years old, for his participation in the protests on July 11 in the Toyo area, in the Diez de Octubre municipality of Havana.
The Prosecutor's Office initially requested 16 years in prison for sedition, but the Supreme Court later reduced the sentence during the appeal process, setting it at five years of confinement, according to the Justice 11J record.
During his confinement in prison 1580, in San Miguel del Padrón, his mother turned social media into a permanent platform to denounce the deterioration of her son's health and demand medical attention.
In recent months, her reports have become increasingly alarming. As she explained, Kevin suffered a serious infection that started in one arm and ended up spreading to his chest. An ultrasound confirmed the presence of a pus accumulation and a mass several centimeters in size, while, according to the mother, a doctor from the prison itself warned that delays in receiving specialized care could worsen his condition.
"I have no one left to meet with, and my son still has fluid in his chest and the infection spreading," Caridad wrote in one of her posts.
The woman claimed to have unsuccessfully reached out to various levels of the prison system to demand urgent medical assistance for her son.
Hunger strike for medical attention
Frómeta Castro's situation was also marked by several protests within the prison. In March of this year, he began a hunger strike to demand adequate medical attention, which he called off nine days later after spending five days in a punishment cell.
The Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press (ICLEP) monitored the case and repeatedly denounced the health conditions of the young man, as well as the lack of response from the prison authorities to his family's requests.
"Now what matters is his health."
In the message announcing the release, Caridad expressed her gratitude for the support received during the five years of her son's imprisonment.
"Thank you for the affection from every person who has been present, attentive, sharing a post, and supporting us in some way throughout these five years," she wrote.
He also requested respect for the family's privacy as they face this new chapter.
"Now the only important thing is that you enjoy your family, your freedom, and your peace. I respectfully ask that you grant us privacy during these days; we need calm, to care for your health, and to build a future, to recover hugs and be together," he expressed.
The release of Kevin Damián Frómeta Castro comes at a time when hundreds of individuals remain imprisoned for their involvement in the protests of July 11th. According to the Justicia 11J registry, as of April 2026, 338 people were still deprived of their liberty due to charges related to those demonstrations, which are considered the largest anti-government protests recorded in Cuba in decades.
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