The political prisoner Andy García Lorenzo was released this Monday after being detained for over 20 hours at the Third Unit of the National Revolutionary Police in Santa Clara, as confirmed by his mother to CubaNet and announced by his sister Roxana García Lorenzo on social media.
Her sister celebrated the news with a direct message: “My brother Andy Garcia has just been released. In the next few minutes, he will be able to talk to family and friends. Thank you truly to everyone who took a moment to ask about him, for sharing and staying informed, and to those who waited outside for him and offered support: THANK YOU for being so brave.”
García Lorenzo had been arrested on Sunday in Santa Clara while walking and recording with his phone what was happening in the street. His family emphasized that he was not participating in any demonstration when the agents detained him; he was simply documenting a spontaneous protest by neighbors against the blackouts that were affecting the area at that time.
The authorities accused him of "public disorder" and informed the family that he would be held for 24 hours. However, the detention extended beyond that period before he was finally released.
The immediate context of the arrest was the severe electrical crisis affecting Villa Clara, where power outages exceeded 20 hours a day during August 2026, resulting in social unrest and spontaneous protests in several neighborhoods.
During the hours that García Lorenzo was held in custody, family members and friends gathered outside the police unit to demand his release. Amid this vigil, the opposition figure Guillermo «Coco» Fariñas was also arrested as he had come to show support for the activist and his family. Fariñas, who received the Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament in 2010, was also released this Monday, as confirmed by García Lorenzo's own family.
Andy García Lorenzo is one of the most well-known political prisoners of July 11, 2021: he was arrested during the historic anti-government protests in Santa Clara and sentenced to four years in prison for contempt, public disorder, and assault, despite the prosecution requesting seven years. He served his full sentence at Guamajal prison and was released on July 7, 2025.
Far from abandoning activism, in June 2026 he shared images of protests in the Condado neighborhood of Santa Clara against power outages, which intensified the pressure from State Security on him. This new arrest is the first to be reported publicly since his release from prison last year.
At the time of his release, the family was unaware of the exact conditions under which he was freed, nor whether the authorities have any ongoing proceedings against him.
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