The painter Ariel Limias Leyva, 53 years old, is facing formal charges of "enemy propaganda against the constitutional order" after protesting on Friday at the steps of the Capitol in Havana with an anti-government banner.
His wife, Yulia Morales, confirmed to the media 14ymedio that Limias Leyva remains isolated in Villa Marista, the headquarters of State Security in Havana.
The protester ascended the staircase of the iconic building—home to the National Assembly of People's Power—with a banner that read on one side, "No more absurd political discrimination" and "Down with the dictatorship," and on the other, "Homeland and Life and Liberty."
Four agents detained him on site and led him to a patrol car; before being placed in the vehicle, he managed to shout "Down with the dictatorship!", to which someone among the crowd also responded "Down!".
That night he stayed at the Dragones police station, where he was interrogated. Early Saturday morning, State Security agents transferred him to Villa Marista without his wife being able to see him.
Morales visited the detention center on Monday morning and returned with bittersweet news. "It's anguish, it's pain," he lamented. "Everything is the same, he remains uncommunicated, but they have informed us of the charges," he added, and upon learning of the formal accusation, he reacted with indignation: "The injustice is so great that it knows no limits."
The family is now seeking legal representation. «We are looking for a good lawyer. We have already received some recommendations and we are trying to get in touch», Morales explained.
The health condition of Limias Leyva is an additional concern: the man suffered a heart attack in January of this year and requires cardiac treatment. However, his wife received a reassuring report from the center: «The doctor told us that he is stable, calm, that his blood pressure is good, and that he is receiving his medications».
The crime for which Limias is accused is defined in Article 124 of the Cuban Penal Code, effective since 2022, which renamed the former concept of "enemy propaganda" to "propaganda against the constitutional order."
The regulation establishes penalties of three to eight years in prison for anyone who incites against social order or the socialist State through any form of propaganda, and from four to ten years if physical or digital communication means are used.
Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International have described this type of offense as a tool for repressing freedom of expression.
It is not the first time that Limias has paid a price for expressing himself. In July 2021, just days after the historic protests of July 11, he took to the streets with a sign that read "freedom" and was detained for 12 days. Limias and Morales, also a painter, have been married for 28 years and sell their works at the San José Fair in Old Havana.
The protest also left a visible mark on the surroundings of the Capitol. From the moment of the arrest and throughout the weekend, the police presence on the sidewalks near the building increased significantly.
"Last night, quite unusually, there were a lot of police patrolling this area which, except for the perimeter of the Capitol, is always unprotected," a resident told 14ymedio on Monday, referring to Sunday. This Tuesday, the presence of security has expanded to a heavily trafficked area that connects Old Havana with Central Havana.
The case of Limias is part of a repressive pattern documented by multiple organizations. The human rights report on Cuba records more than 10 violations daily during the first semester of 2026, and estimates from May of this year put the number of political prisoners on the island at over 1,281.
The figure of «propaganda against the constitutional order» was recently applied against ten Panamanian citizens detained in Cuba last March.
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