Yasser Fernando Rodríguez González, a Cuban political prisoner who has been incarcerated for over six years, began a hunger strike at the Augusto César Sandino Penitentiary—commonly known as the Sandino Combined, in Pinar del Río—in protest against the alleged mistreatment he suffers under orders from First Lieutenant Luis Enrique Polueda Camejo.
The images shared by the Brito News page on Facebook show a devastating contrast: the man in the recent photographs barely resembles the one who was arrested in November 2020. He has lost a significant amount of weight, his head is shaved, his face looks gaunt, and, as seen in the photos, he has lost his teeth during his time in prison. "This is how the Cuban dictatorship has destroyed Yasser Fernando Rodríguez," states the comparative infographic published by that outlet.
Rodríguez González suffers from hepatitis and, according to the complaint, is not receiving the medical treatment his condition requires, which exacerbates the risk to his life.
The physical deterioration shown in the images is not coincidental: it has a documented history of reprisals and inhumane conditions. Last May, from that same prison, he alerted Martí Noticias about the food situation: "We are given 10 to 20 grams of rice. In the morning, breakfast is a piece of bread the size of a peseta and a little sugarless soda."
In that same call, he described the main meal as "minced meat that is watery, pasta with worms, and broth made with water from the root vegetable," and warned of an outbreak of serious illness among the more than 200 inmates: "There is a virus that they say is hepatitis, but it must be anemia; when the defenses drop, anything can enter. There are people who have died, others hospitalized vomiting and defecating blood."
The organization Prisoners Defenders has documented that the caloric intake in the Cuban prison system ranges between 250 and 353 calories per day, compared to the 2,000 to 2,500 that an average adult requires.
Rodríguez González was arrested on November 25, 2020 —the anniversary of Fidel Castro's death— after posting a video on Facebook in which he urged Cubans to unite against the dictatorship and to place opposition posters on the facade of his home in the Los Sitios neighborhood of Havana. He was charged with "acts against state security" and "incitement to rebellion," and sentenced to seven years in prison.
As an expression of his convictions, he tattooed on his abdomen the phrase "Down with the Castros and the communist lackeys who rule in Cuba."
This is not the first act of reprisal he has suffered. In August 2021, guards at the Combinado del Este organized a repudiation act against him, isolating him in a punishment cell and confiscating all his belongings, including soap, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. In March 2022, he reported being beaten and threatened in Valle Grande prison, where the head of internal order threatened him with "making him disappear" for informing the independent press. The report also indicated that other inmates at the Combinado de Sandino were also being subjected to torture and mistreatment.
"His only crime was expressing his ideas and demanding freedom for Cuba. His case must not be forgotten," concluded the publication from Brito News, which calls for the intervention of international human rights organizations to investigate the conditions in that prison.
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