The Cuban dictatorship reached its highest historical number of political prisoners in October: 1,353 people deprived of liberty for ideological reasons, according to the monthly report by Prisoners Defenders published this Thursday.
The record exceeds the previous one from September in two cases and includes minors with cognitive disabilities processed for sedition and hundreds of seriously ill individuals without medical care.
During October, 39 new cases were added to the list, 26 of which —66.7%— were directly linked to banners, slogans, graffiti, or other forms of political expression. In the last 12 months, the organization documented 346 new additions, an average of 29 per month, a figure that nearly quintuple the total number of detainees during the Black Spring of 2003, when the regime imprisoned 75 opponents and journalists in a single raid.
«Cuba once again sets its own record for repression in October. These figures cross the threshold of sensitivity for those of us who monitor the repression in Cuba, but they should shame an international community that, with few exceptions, is not raising its voice as the situation demands, for the people of Cuba,» stated Javier Larrondo, president of Prisoners Defenders.
Since the protests of July 11, 2021, until the end of October, Cuba has accumulated 2,256 political prisoners in five years and four months. The record includes 158 women and 43 individuals who were detained when they were minors.
The most alarming focus of the report is Morón (Ciego de Ávila), where 18 individuals are facing charges of sedition due to the protests on March 13th. Six of them were minors when the events occurred, and the prosecution requests range from five to 13 years.
In none of the 18 cases has a judge intervened; the Provincial People's Court of Ciego de Ávila even refused to process the habeas corpus filed on behalf of Jonathan David Muir Burgos.
Two of those minors have documented cognitive disabilities according to the prosecution's own assessments. Jailer Israel Valero Luis was 17 years old during the protests; the psychiatric report describes organic brain pathology and impulse control disorders, yet the Prosecutor's Office requests seven years for sedition.
Pedro Luis Figuera Díaz was 16 years old; his expert evaluation concludes that he had "substantially diminished capacity to understand the consequences of his actions," and the Public Ministry is requesting five years.
"What kind of state responds to the protests of vulnerable adolescents with accusations of sedition and requests for years of imprisonment?" questioned Larrondo. "What is happening to minors in Cuba is simply intolerable," he added.
In Sancti Spíritus, the Echevarría family illustrates another dimension of repression. Óscar Echevarria Rubio and his wife Cleidys García were arrested on October 10 after shouting slogans from the rooftop of their home and taken to the Nieves Morejón prison.
At least 12 days later, her daughter Aitana Echevarría Rivero, 18 years old and mother of a girl approximately one year old, was placed under house arrest. The three are part of the same criminal proceedings without any judicial ruling.
The health situation is equally grave: 464 prisoners suffer from serious diseases without adequate treatment, and 236 are experiencing forced malnutrition.
Pastor Ariel Limias Leyva, detained on October 2 after protesting on the steps of the Havana Capitol, suffered a heart attack in January 2026 and only receives cardiac care thanks to his family's efforts. Daniel Rodríguez Rodríguez, arrested for photographing critical slogans, suffers from pulmonary emphysema and has a tumor in one lung; his imprisonment interrupted his scheduled medical care.
The report coincides with a week of international pressure: the G7 foreign ministers demanded the release of those arbitrarily detained from Paris and progress towards a multiparty democratic government, while nine former Ibero-American presidents gathered in Miami to discuss the end of dictatorships in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
With 210 convicted of sedition and an average sentence of 10.1 years, Larrondo described the situation as "state terrorism" and warned that the international community largely remains silent.
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