The marriage of Cuban opponents Donaida Pérez Paseiro and Loreto Hernández García is facing pressure from State Security to leave the country, the only way to be released from prison.
According to Pérez Paseiro's statement to Martí Noticias, two officers, identified as Arturo and Christopher, contacted her husband to demand the arrival of documents from abroad in order to facilitate the couple's departure.
"They know that the day we are released from prison, we will continue our fight for the freedom of Cuba," he stated.
The activist added that the repressive agents pressure them to expedite the processes, regardless of the country that receives them. In her opinion, this is nothing more than an attempt to prevent both of them from resuming their political struggle on the Island once they are free.
"I believe it is extremely urgent for them that we be exiled from our homeland," he specified.
Both remain confined in the Guamajal penitentiary complex in Villa Clara.
The political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez, known as Antúnez and brother of Hernández García, confirmed to Martí Noticias that the couple has informed him about the repeated approaches from the political police.
"High-ranking officials from the political police continue to pressure him to expedite the processes for his release, on the condition that he leaves the country," Antúnez reported.
According to their testimony, the deterioration of their health and the conditions of their imprisonment have led them to accept leaving, although they would have preferred to stay in Cuba.
"The abject conditions they face have led them to the decision to choose exile," he noted, specifying that the choice stems from the need to "save their lives, regain their freedom."
Pérez Paseiro and Hernández García were sentenced in February 2022—eight and seven years in prison, respectively—for their involvement in the protests on July 11, 2021, in Placetas, Villa Clara.
The activist was released in January 2025 as part of a group of 553 individuals granted early release measures, but the Provincial People's Court of Villa Clara revoked her parole in June of that year, citing a failure to comply with obligations.
Human rights organizations attribute the decision to political motivations, as Pérez Paseiro continued to publicly demand the release of her husband and prisoners of conscience.
In April, Rosabel Sánchez, daughter of Hernández García, reported the deterioration of her father's and his partner's health in Guamajal prison, after a visit during which she was able to speak with both of them. She detailed that Loreto was experiencing severe respiratory problems, uncontrolled diabetes, pancreatitis, ischemic heart disease, and hypertension. Meanwhile, Donaida was suffering from chronic bone pain and very high blood pressure.
Hernández García is the president of the Free Yoruba Association of Cuba; his wife is the president of the same organization and a Yoruba priestess.
It is a common practice of the Cuban government to condition the release of political prisoners on their agreement to leave the country. This was the case for José Daniel Ferrer and Sissi Abascal Zamora.
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