Félix Navarro Rodríguez and his daughter Saylí Navarro Álvarez, both political prisoners, were nominated for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament, as confirmed this Sunday by a committee of former political prisoners from Cuba recently established for this purpose.
The candidacy was promoted by the activists and former political prisoners Normando Hernández, Pablo Pacheco, and Ángel de Fana, reported Martí Noticias.
What distinguishes this managing committee is its intergenerational nature: it brings together individuals who experienced political imprisonment at various stages since 1959, making it the first of its kind in the history of Cuban activism.
The stated goal of the committee is to raise awareness of the situation of political prisoners on the island and to advocate for the immediate release of the Navarros.
Father and daughter have been imprisoned for years following their arbitrary arrest during the anti-government protests of July 11, 2021 in Perico, Matanzas. Félix is serving a nine-year sentence in the Agüica prison in Colón, Matanzas, while Saylí is serving eight years in the La Bellotex women's prison, for alleged charges of public disorder, contempt, and assault.
Amnesty International declared them prisoners of conscience in October 2024.
The conditions of confinement for both have been reported on numerous occasions. In April of this year, Félix was beaten and dragged handcuffed for over 100 meters by a prison chief, and then moved to a punishment cell incommunicado.
When Saylí reported the beating by phone from La Bellotex, the regime reduced her prison benefits as retaliation. Her family has also reported that she has been denied passes and access to a minimum security regime on three occasions.
The case of the Navarro family will be discussed in the European Parliament's plenary session on September 16, with a resolution vote scheduled for the following day. The institution had already approved a resolution in June 2026 denouncing the systematic repression in Cuba and demanding the release of all political prisoners.
Félix Navarro, a member of the Pedro Luis Boitel Democratic Party and honorary president of the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba, has decades of activism under his belt. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2003 during the Black Spring, when the regime imprisoned 75 dissidents, journalists, and activists. He was released in March 2011 as a result of mediation by the Cuban Catholic Church and the Government of Spain.
After several years in prison following the popular uprising of July 11, he was conditionally released in January 2025, amid negotiations between the Cuban regime and the United States government, with the Vatican's mediation, to release 553 prisoners. However, three months later, the authorities revoked his release and returned him to Agüica prison.
On September 10th, he received the Democracy Award 2026 from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), an honor he shared with political prisoner Maykel "Osorbo" Castillo and former prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, which was accepted on his behalf as he was unable to leave prison.
The Sájarov Prize, the highest recognition from the European Parliament for human rights, is named after the Soviet physicist and dissident Andréi Sájarov and was awarded for the first time in 1988 to Nelson Mandela and Anatoli Marchenko.
Cuba has a notable history with this award: it was received by Oswaldo Payá in 2002, the Ladies in White —a movement of which Saylí is a part— in 2005, and independent journalist Guillermo "Coco" Fariñas in 2010. The winner of this year's edition is set to be announced in October.
Related videos:
Filed under: