Duannis León Taboada, a political prisoner sentenced to 14 years in prison for his participation in the protests of July 11, 2021, sent a message to the Cuban people—both inside and outside the island—from the maximum-security prison Combinado del Este in Havana, through a recorded phone call from his mother, which was shared this Friday on social media from Berlin, Germany.
The audio was published by activist Tania Tasé: "Right now, we must focus on the true enemy of the Cuban people. Since '59, it has been responsible for the fact that the Cuban population currently has all their needs unmet," Duannis stated during the call.
Among the most striking complaints in the message is the situation regarding water in the prison: "We have been without water for three days. We are given only one bottle of water a day. For drinking and bathing. One bottle of water. And no one talks, no one says anything, no one complains, no one protests."
Duannis attributes this silence not to indifference, but to decades of indoctrination and systematic repression: “It’s not a problem of the population, it’s that we must recognize that it’s been many years creating a stereotype among the population, combined with an explosion of fear and repression.”
The young man also reported the collapse of the judicial system within the prison: "Here, there are people who have been waiting three and four years for a trial. It's madness; everything is completely wrong here, mom. Everything is wrong."
Regarding the official argument of the U.S. embargo as the cause of all the ills in the country, Duannis was straightforward: "A government that has not yet been able to seek a solution to reach an agreement with the Government of the United States to eradicate that blockade. They are incapable, because the reality is that the blockade is still in place." He pointed out that a truly capable government would have found ways to negotiate a resolution.
The prisoner also directed criticism at the Cuban government for the contradiction it incurs: it publicly acknowledges that the purpose of the embargo is to generate social discontent, yet when that discontent manifests in protests, it responds with sentences of 14, 15, and 20 years in maximum-security prisons. "You are the true unjust ones, you are the ones who must take care of this people, you are the ones who must grant rights to that people," he told them.
Duannis also recounted the physical assaults he has endured inside the Combinado del Este: "They put me in a sealed cell, [...] full of blood and handcuffed. And that's how they sprayed me in the face." He also reported that prison officials have threatened him with the death of his mother as a means of psychological pressure.
Despite everything, the young man declared himself free in spirit: "I thank the Cuban government for allowing me fourteen years in prison. I thank them, because thanks to what I have lived through and all the repression I have experienced, I was given the opportunity to be a free Cuban."
The case of Duannis is one of the most documented among the prisoners from the 11J protests. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted him precautionary measures in January 2026 due to the risk to his life and integrity. In February, he was sent to a punishment cell after being assaulted by an officer, and in April, he was again relocated to isolation for writing slogans like "freedom" and "justice" inside the prison.
Your message arrives at an extremely critical moment for Cuban political prisoners: as of July 9, 2026, Prisoners Defenders documented 1,306 political prisoners in Cuba —the highest number recorded by the organization— of which over 300 are directly linked to the protests of July 11 (11J). The pardon issued in April 2026 freed 2,010 inmates, but expressly excluded those convicted of "crimes against authority," the category under which most of the demonstrators were prosecuted, including Duannis.
"The Cuban population urgently needs to be free, you understand me, mom," the young man concluded from his cell in the Combinado del Este.
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