Oscar Echevarría Rubio, a tattoo artist and visual artist from Sancti Spíritus, remains detained along with his wife, Cleidys García, four days after participating in an anti-government protest from the rooftop of their home in the Reparto Escribano neighborhood of that city, according to reports from Martí Noticias.
On October 10th, Echevarría climbed to the roof of his house and shouted slogans such as "Down with the dictatorship," "Homeland and Life," "Down with Raúl Castro," and "Down with communism." His niece, Aitana Echevarría, accompanied him from below, chanting phrases opposing the system. The demonstration was swiftly cut short by a State Security operation led by Major Orelvis Pérez Díaz, head of the Counter-Subversive Activity Directorate of MININT in the province, which resulted in the arrest of both spouses.
The two remain detained in the Provincial Unit of Criminal Investigations and Operations (UPICO), locally known as "el Vivac." The Prosecutor's Office has already placed them in provisional detention on the charge of contempt while the investigation phase and preparation of the criminal proceedings continue.
Lidia Echavarría, sister of the tattoo artist and resident in the United States, specified to Martí Noticias that, upon the conclusion of the visitation period on Monday, both would be transferred to Nieves Morejón prison in Guayos, where they would await their trial.
"They remain in the Vivac. They are requesting preventive detention for both of them, and when the visit ends, which will be on Monday, they will be transferred to Nieve Morejón, where they will await trial," he stated.
Regarding the possibility of hiring a defense lawyer, Lidia Echavarría was unequivocal: "In Cuba, there are no human rights, so what lawyer is going to defend you? That would be a ghost lawyer to pretend what that dictatorship lacks: democracy."
The journalist Adriano Castañeda, from the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press (ICLEP), explained that Echevarría had previously had confrontations with the political police due to his critical stance, even though he did not belong to any formal opposition organization. "Although he is not affiliated with any anti-communist organization here, he has maintained a dissenting position for a long time regarding the situation we Cubans are living through, which is quite critical and chaotic," he noted. Castañeda summarized the situation with a phrase: "This time it seems the cup has overflowed."
ICLEP demanded the immediate release of the tattoo artist, emphasizing that his arrest occurred solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.
The case is reminiscent of that of the fighter Javier Ernesto Martín Gutiérrez, known as "Spiderman," detained in April 2026 after protesting from his balcony in Marianao against power outages and the social crisis, and he was also charged with contempt. Both cases illustrate a systematic repressive pattern: protesting from one's own home, immediate intervention by State Security, and the criminalization of peaceful dissent.
The charge of contempt is one of the most common legal instruments used by the regime against those who express public criticism. Of the 1,372 political prisoners registered by Prisoners Defenders as of October 1, 2026 —the highest number documented by that organization—, 382 are related to this crime.
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