Wilber Aguilar Bravo, father of the political prisoner Walnier Luis Aguilar Rivera, reported in a video posted on Facebook that his 26-year-old son is the only one still imprisoned among the 17 co-defendants in his case, while the Cuban regime intensifies harassment against the family in retaliation for publicly demanding his freedom.
Walnier was arrested on July 20, 2021, when he was 21 years old, for participating in the protests on July 11 in the neighborhood of La Güinera, in Arroyo Naranjo.
The young man was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment for sedition—after a previous prosecution request of between 22 and 23 years was reduced on appeal—despite suffering from a borderline intellectual disability with documented brain injury, as confirmed by a psychiatrist, psychologist, neurologist, and a medical commission, a condition that the court completely disregarded.
"The 17 who were at my son's trial, I'm very glad they're already out. They should never have been in prison, just like my son. Walnier is still imprisoned under maximum severity. Walnier is still locked up; he has spent five years locked up," the father reported in the video.
Instead of receiving any form of leniency, Walnier was transferred in January to a prison in Sancti Spíritus, more than 300 kilometers from his home in Havana. His father describes this transfer as an act of "cruelty," possibly in retaliation for the monthly protests that the family held in front of the previous prison.
"They are transferring him to Sancti Spíritus. We have to travel over 300 kilometers to see Walnier, in a country where there is no transportation, where there is no fuel. It's like an act of cruelty," said Wilber Aguilar Bravo. The exhausting journey amounts to just two hours of visitation.
Harassment is not limited to the prisoner. The father has reported systematic police intimidation, with patrol cars stationed outside his home every month, armed men watching him while he searches for food, and arbitrary summonses for him, his wife, and his other son.
The authorities go further. They explicitly warn the family that social media activism affects Walnier's prison benefits, using the young man's situation as leverage to silence his father.
The Cuban Human Rights Observatory documented at least six repressive acts against Wilber Aguilar Bravo just in 2026, including summons for interrogations, and an incident in July where agents prevented him from leaving his own home.
The case of Walnier Aguilar has international support
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures in favor of Walnier Aguilar in July 2022, and in January 2025, extended that protection to his father and family unit through Resolution 9/2025, upon recognizing the seriousness, urgency, and risk of irreparable harm.
The United States Embassy in Cuba publicly denounced the abuses against Walnier in November 2025 and demanded his immediate release. Prisoners Defenders and the OCDH are conducting active campaigns on his behalf.
As of the end of July this year, Prisoners Defenders reported 1,306 political prisoners in Cuba, including 40 minors, and Walnier Luis Aguilar Rivera remained one of the most emblematic cases of July 11 due to the combination of his medical condition, the severity of his sentence, and the systematic harassment of those who have not stopped demanding his freedom.
"There is nothing more painful in this world than being unable to defend a child. The helplessness kills you because you cannot protect your child," concluded the father of the young political prisoner.
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