The Cuban judicial system confirmed, through a cassation appeal, the sentences of 14 and 13 years in prison imposed on political prisoners Ana Ibis Tristá Padilla and Jarol Varona Agüero, as reported by Cubalex.
The sentences handed down in September 2025 by the Chamber of Crimes Against State Security of the Provincial Court of Santiago de Cuba are now final after exhausting the last available avenue for appeal.
Ana Ibis is serving her sentence in the Women's Prison of Las Tunas, known as La Veguita, while Jarol Varona is detained in the Provincial Prison of Las Tunas, known as El Típico.
The case has a judicial history that illustrates the use of the legal apparatus as a tool of repression. Both were detained in connection with a peaceful march called for May 14, 2023, in Vicente García Park in Las Tunas, which never took place. Ana Ibis, 37 years old, was arrested on November 7, 2023, and accused of being the main organizer of that protest, putting up political posters, and planning to launch Molotov cocktails.
In a first trial held in November 2024, the Provincial People's Court of Santiago de Cuba acquitted both due to insufficient evidence, acknowledging that there was no material evidence against them. After learning of the verdict, Ana Ibis stated to Martí Noticias: “I really think it’s incredible. The verdict says that both Jarol and I are acquitted due to lack of evidence.”
However, the prosecution appealed the acquittal, and the Supreme Court annulled it in May 2025, ordering a new trial. In this second trial, also held in Santiago de Cuba— the province where specialized courts for State Security cases operate, although the defendants resided in Las Tunas— the sentences that have now been confirmed were issued: 14 years for Ana Ibis for "propaganda against the constitutional order" and "other acts against State security," and 13 years for Jarol Varona for the latter charge.
Ana Ibis is the wife of political prisoner Damián Hechavarría Labrada, who on April 21, 2021, was involved in one of the first documented acts using the slogan “Down with the dictatorship! Homeland and Life!” in Cuba, months before the protests on July 11. Damián was sentenced to five years in prison. Since then, Ana Ibis has become a public activist and a voice for the defense of political prisoners, making her a target of the regime.
In the same case, Félix Daniel Pérez Ruiz was sentenced to five years, and Christian de Jesús Peña Aguilera to four years for sharing a post on Facebook about the march.
The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) described the process as "a political operation disguised as a judicial process" and warned that "everything is based on reports and interpretations from the Ministry of the Interior and Counterintelligence, institutions directly involved in repression." Cubalex, for its part, noted that the case "demonstrates the use of the criminal justice system to criminalize the exercise of fundamental rights, especially freedom of expression and peaceful protest."
The situation of Ana Ibis is especially serious. In April 2026, the OCDH reported that the Cuban political prisoner was in critical health condition, with kidney issues, extreme weakness, fainting, and physical deterioration attributed to lack of food and medical care.
Cubalex demanded "the immediate and unconditional release of Ana Ibis Tristá Padilla, Jarol Varona Agüero, and all those imprisoned for political reasons in Cuba."
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