Fernando Michael Bárzaga Mompié, 44 years old, regained his freedom this Saturday in Manzanillo, Granma, after serving his prison sentence for participating in the July 11, 2021 protests. His family was waiting for him in the street with a Cuban flag, and his children ran to hug him as soon as he came out.
Bárzaga, a member of the opposition group Independent and Democratic Cuba (CID), had been sentenced to five years in prison for the crimes of public disorder and assault.
Wrapped in the Cuban flag, the opposition leader did not hide his emotion but also his political firmness: "Freedom is not complete until the people of Cuba are free; I am not free," he declared shortly after embracing his children.
"We continue to fight; I am already in the streets," he added, making it clear that his commitment to the democratic struggle has not changed after years of confinement: "The people of Cuba need to know that they have the right to be free. The reality is that this is not achieved through wars, nor with a stick in hand, nor with a machete in hand."
Bárzaga also directly rejected the regime's narrative on sovereignty and dignity: "We do not have to do what a dictator says, nor do we have to follow the thoughts of a man who has been dead for 100 years. What I simply want is for my people to have what they deserve, to live as they should live, with dignity."
During his imprisonment, the opponent went through several correctional facilities: El Típico, the Granma Provincial Prison known as Las Mangas, and San Ramón "El Secadero." From these facilities, he systematically denounced inhumane conditions: overcrowding, shortages of food and medicine, medical negligence, psychological torture, and selective reprisals against the political prisoners from the 11J protests.
Bárzaga himself had announced his release in an audio message shared by Click Cuba in early August, where he indicated August 12 as his expected date of serving his sentence. His release occurred three days after that date.
The release of Bárzaga occurs in a context where 338 people linked to the 11J protests were still serving sentences as the fifth anniversary of the protests was marked, according to data from Justicia 11J, which indicates a total of 775 political prisoners on the island.
From prison, Bárzaga had sent a message in April 2026 that summed up his state of mind during confinement: "I lost my family but not the hope for a free Cuba."
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