A minor with epilepsy has been imprisoned in Cuba since late July after State Security arrested him along with four adults for participating in a casserole protest in the Oriente Rebelde community, in the municipality of Sibanicú, in the province of Camagüey.
The legal rights organization Cubalex raised an alert about the arrests in a post demanding the immediate release of the five.
The pot-banging protest took place on July 25, the eve of National Rebellion Day, motivated by the ongoing lack of drinking water and the blackouts that have plagued the community for years.
The next day, more than five police officers arrived at Oriente Rebelde, interrogated residents, and threatened them to identify those who had protested.
The five arrested are Luis Alberto La Ó, Lisbany Aguilera La Ó, Raudel Ramírez Vázquez, Yoelki Fonseca, and his underage brother Yordenkis Fonseca. They were first taken to the Third Unit of the National Revolutionary Police in the city of Camagüey and then to provisional prison in Villa María Luisa, the operations center of State Security in the province.
The case of Yordenkis Fonseca is the most serious. Cubalex warned that "he is underage and suffers from epilepsy" and that "since he was detained, he has experienced several seizures that required his transfer to the hospital." Despite this, the authorities continue to keep him in detention.
The families of the five detainees are unaware of the charges they face and have not received any information about their legal situation, which leaves them, according to Cubalex, in a state of helplessness.
The neighbor Rogelio Rodríguez Mora, who reported the events on social media, described the police operation with these words: “This place was filled with cars and police scaring everyone. They summoned a few people, and you already know how they operate, intimidating everyone.”
Rodríguez Mora is no stranger to repression: in August 2025, he was detained for 12 days due to another water protest in the same community and was pressured to become an informant.
The detentions in Sibanicú add to a documented wave of repression throughout 2026. The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights recorded 1,949 repressive actions in the first half of the year, including 257 arbitrary detentions. In June alone, Cubalex counted 107 protests across the country and 38 detentions related to protests involving pots and pans, six of which were minors.
The pattern of arresting minors in the context of protests is recurrent in 2026. At the beginning of August, Cubalex identified at least seven minors imprisoned in Cuba for reasons related to demonstrations.
The organization Prisoners Defenders closed July with 1,327 political prisoners, of which 41 had been detained while underage.
Cubalex was unequivocal in its demand: "Authorities must cease persecution and reprisals against those who express their discontent and demand dignified living conditions. Peacefully protesting is not a crime. It is a fundamental right."
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