Aniette González García, the Camagüey activist who spent three years in prison for photographing herself wrapped in the Cuban flag, has left the island and adds to the long list of Cubans who have chosen exile after suffering repression from the regime.
“Today, September 12, I left Cuba. I left Cuba because I can’t stay there any longer. I have serious throat problems. I don’t know how serious they might be, and I will never find out there because there is nothing available to take care of me. I have never even been able to get a complete set of tests done,” stated González, in a hoarse voice, in a video recorded from Guyana and published by the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH).
According to the organization, the Cuban activist's condition began during her years in prison. The activist, for her part, expressed her gratitude to the NGO.
"They never abandoned me, neither before nor after I was imprisoned. Thank you on my behalf and on behalf of all political prisoners. We continue from another stage. Long live a free Cuba!" she said.
Her case became one of the most emblematic examples of political persecution in Cuba: she was detained on March 23, 2023, in Camagüey after posting on Facebook images in which she appeared wrapped in the national flag, as part of the peaceful initiative #LaBanderaEsDeTodos, promoted by the San Isidro Movement to reclaim that symbol as a heritage of all Cubans and not just the ruling party.
The regime accused her of the alleged crime of "insulting national symbols," as defined in Article 269 of the Penal Code that has been in effect since December 2022, and placed her in the Villa María Luisa prison, the operations center for State Security in Camagüey.
In February 2024, the Municipal Court of Camagüey sentenced her to three years in prison, along with the confiscation of the flag and a ban on leaving the country.
The appeal was rejected months later, upholding the sentence, while the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted him precautionary measures due to risks to his life, integrity, and health.
Her daughter, Aniette Ginestá, was one of the strongest voices during the imprisonment, publicly questioning: "For thinking differently? For a photo? For a flag?".
On December 7, 2025, Aniette regained her freedom after completing her sentence, but the persecution did not stop.
In April 2026, State Security agents detained her again in Camagüey, although she was released that same day without formal charges, as reported by her daughter on social media.
The regime's double standards were revealed throughout the process: while Aniette was serving a sentence for posing with the flag, official-aligned artists like Haila María Mompié, and even international figures like Laura Pausini, used it in public performances without facing any consequences.
Aniette González's exile occurs at a time when Cuba is experiencing record numbers of political repression, with more than 1,300 political prisoners according to human rights organizations, and when the regime has systematically used exile as a pressure mechanism against activists and dissidents.
His departure from the island marks the end of a cycle of more than three years of institutional persecution for a gesture that, for millions of Cubans, was nothing less than an act of love for their homeland.
Filed under: