The Supreme People's Court (TSP) of Cuba dismissed the appeal filed six months ago on behalf of independent writer and journalist José Gabriel Barrenechea Chávez, according to the independent portal Cubanet.
On July 28, the entity issued ruling No. 417-2026-1875-2717, which fully upholds the six-year prison sentence imposed by the Provincial People's Court of Villa Clara in mid-January 2026 for the crime of "public disorder," after participating in a peaceful protest in Encrucijada to demand the restoration of electric service.
With this action, the Cuban justice system closed the last ordinary judicial avenue for Barrenechea Chávez, who was not even able to say goodbye to his mother, who passed away a few months ago hoping to see her son free.
The highest court argued that the provincial ruling "is not based on isolated or generic assessments, but on a body of evidence consisting of statements from acting agents, eyewitnesses, and the defendants' own declarations."
The processing of the appeal was handled by the Room for Crimes Against State Security of the TSP, the same body that addresses political cases in Cuba.
Barrenechea was arrested on November 8, 2024, one day after residents of Encrucijada took to the streets in front of the municipal offices of the Communist Party and the Government following more than 48 hours without electricity.
According to the accusation, the journalist shouted "Turn on the electricity; we want the electricity" and urged those present not to leave the protest. However, videos shared on social media show him trying to calm the crowd to prevent the situation from escalating into violence, directly contradicting the official narrative.
The TSP stated that the demonstrations "resulted in an effective disturbance of public order due to the disruption of normal traffic of people and vehicles in the area and the loud noises made by the accused using metal objects."
The defense argued that there was insufficient evidence of Barrenechea's involvement beyond his presence at the location, and that the actions did not constitute a crime as they were part of the exercise of a constitutional right. The TSP rejected both arguments.
Alongside Barrenechea, five other protesters were sentenced in January 2026, with penalties ranging from three years of corrective labor to eight years in prison, in a process that international organizations such as PEN International and Artists at Risk Connection have described as the criminalization of peaceful protest.
The journalist has been imprisoned in La Pendiente prison in Santa Clara for one year and eight months, and this Friday he will turn 55 years old.
During his imprisonment, he experienced one of the most painful moments of the case: his mother, Zoila Esther Chávez, passed away in May 2025 without him being able to say goodbye to her. Authorities repeatedly denied him humanitarian passes despite being her sole caregiver, and they only allowed him to attend the wake handcuffed and under surveillance.
From prison, Barrenechea wrote a letter in which he bitterly accepted what had happened: "The fault is mine. Because, knowing the country in which I had to live, I committed the grave crime of joining my neighbors in the civic demand for electricity. (…) I couldn't say goodbye to her, I couldn't ask for her forgiveness and receive her blessing."
The dismissal of the appeal solidifies a sentence that, discounting the time already served since November 2024, would keep Barrenechea deprived of liberty until approximately 2030.
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