Of the 677 political prisoners registered by Cubalex, 205 are residents of Havana, accounting for almost a third of the total documented by the independent organization. The capital leads the distribution by residential province, while the Combinado del Este is the prison with the highest number of identified cases: 74.
The data can be found in the original statistical panel from Cubalex, consulted on Sunday, November 1, 2026, which allows for the examination of the territorial distribution of political prisoners and the facilities where they are held. The organization continuously updates its record as it incorporates or verifies information.
After Havana, the provinces with the highest number of recorded political prisoners are Santiago de Cuba, with 63; Camagüey, with 54; Villa Clara, with 51; Matanzas, with 50; and Granma, with 41. Holguín adds 34 cases, Las Tunas 33, and Artemisa 31.
These figures correspond to the province of residence of incarcerated individuals, not necessarily to the location where they are serving their sentences. In fact, Cubalex identifies 192 political prisoners held in penitentiary facilities located in Havana, a number that differs from the 205 recorded as residents of the capital.
El Combinado del Este tops the list of correctional facilities with documented political prisoners. Its 74 cases surpass the 30 at Valle Grande prison, also in Havana, and the 26 at the Granma Provincial Prison, known as Las Mangas Nueva.
The Provincial Prison of Las Tunas reports 22 cases, while the Boniato prison in Santiago de Cuba and Prison 1580, known as El Pitirre, each record 20 cases.
In total, Cubalex has identified 97 penitentiary establishments or detention centers where individuals are held for political reasons.
In 99 cases, the location of the prison where the person is held is unknown. The organization has a known penitentiary location for the other 578 cases.
This does not necessarily mean that those 99 individuals are missing, but rather that Cubalex has been unable to establish or confirm the location where they are being held in state custody. The lack of this information makes it difficult for their family members and legal representatives to know their situation.
The panel also documents that 81 political prisoners are incarcerated outside of their home province, approximately 12% of the total. Another 495 remain in facilities within their own province, and in 101 cases, their territorial relationship could not be determined.
For families, having a relative confined in another province can involve long travels and increased expenses to visit them or bring them food, medicines, and other essential items.
The profile of registered individuals shows that 92.5% are men and 7.5% are women. The average age is 40 years, although this calculation only includes the 349 records that contain information about the ages of the inmates.
The organization itself explains that its database does not aim to reflect the entirety of political imprisonment in Cuba. "It is not a complete census. We publish what we have been able to know, document, and verify," it clarifies in the introduction to its interactive registry.
Cubalex includes individuals prosecuted for crimes against state security, as well as citizens accused of contempt, public disorder, assault, or other common crimes when there are elements indicating that the imprisonment is a punishment for protesting, expressing criticism, exercising independent journalism, or defending fundamental rights.
For this coverage, it considers as deprived of liberty those individuals who remain under state custody for more than seven consecutive days. The organization notes that its latest methodological review corresponds to July 2026 and recommends indicating the consultation date due to the constant updates to the registry.
When the interactive list was made public on October 24, it counted 679 political prisoners, of which 580 had an identified prison location.
These figures also appeared in reports released on October 31, but the consultation on November 1 shows 677 and 578, respectively.
The variation alone does not allow us to conclude that two individuals have been released. The changes in the record may be due to new verifications, transfers, releases, or reclassifications of files.
The registry of Cubalex differs from that compiled by Prisoners Defenders, which counted 1,351 political and conscience prisoners by the end of September 2026.
That organization includes in its list both incarcerated individuals and others who are under restrictions of freedom outside of prison, so the two totals cannot be directly compared.
On October 22, more than 130 political prisoners issued a statement in Miami demanding the release of all individuals imprisoned for political reasons and the decriminalization of dissent prior to any negotiations with the Cuban regime.
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