Image of late Manuel de Jesús Guillén Esplugas. Photo by Cosme Damian Dominguez Peñalver published on Facebook. Used and edited with permission.
Beyond its iconic beaches, vibrant salsa rhythms, and classic cars, Cuba grapples with a troubling reality. Over the past decade, it has maintained one of the world’s highest incarceration rates, reaching second place globally in 2023, surpassed only by El Salvador. With 794 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, the country’s total prison population is estimated at 88,849 out of its 11.19 million citizens. According to civil society organizations operating abroad, 1,149 of these detainees are classified as political prisoners.
Manuel de Jesús Guillén Esplugas, a political prisoner arrested in 2021, has become a focus of attention due to his identity and his tragic death on November 30. Guillén Esplugas was the great-grandson of Nicolás Guillén, Cuba’s national poet, who maintained close ties with the upper echelons of the Communist Party during Fidel Castro’s era. Despite this lineage, Guillén Espulgas became an activist with two major Cuban dissident organizations: the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) and Cuba Decide.
In July 2021, Guillén Esplugas was among the hundreds of thousands of Cubans who took to the streets to protest for change. For three days, demonstrations erupted across the island, uniting voices in cities and rural areas calling for freedom and protesting 62 years of authoritarian rule and worsening living conditions.
Read more: Hope amid scarcity and fear: Cuba after July’s historic protests
This unprecedented event shook the regime’s image of unwavering public support. Authorities responded quickly and decisively: internet access was cut, and security forces — police, military, and paramilitary groups — were deployed to quash the protests through violence and mass arrests.
Once control was reestablished, the government imposed harsh prison sentences, punishing protesters and even those who broadcast the events online. Sentences reached up to 30 years. Guillén Esplugas was sentenced to six years.
On the night of November 29, 2024, police officers arrived at his mother’s house in Havana to inform her that her son had died in prison, allegedly by suicide. When 63-year-old Dania María Esplugas was finally able to see her son, she noticed his clothes were covered with shoe marks.
His mother has bravely spoken out despite threats to her life and the silence of local media. In interviews with international outlets and on social media, she described her son’s body as covered in bruises and wounds, consistent with physical abuse.
Dania María Esplugas has urged other families of prisoners to overcome the regime’s climate of fear and join her in protesting. “I will go out to protest alone, for my son and for others,” she declared. In an interview with Cuban–American influencer Alex Otaola, she said:
Si pudiera regresar al día en que arrestaron a mi hijo por pedir la libertad de Cuba en las calles, esta vez estaría a su lado.
If I could go back in time to the day my son was arrested for demanding freedom for Cuba, this time I would stand by his side.
On the left: Manuel de Jesús Guillén Esplugas. On the right: Cosme Damian Dominguez Peñalver. Image by Cosme Damian Dominguez Peñalver, used with his permission.
Cuban penitentiary system and political prisoners
Cuba’s high incarceration rate and political prisoners are sensitive topics, with authorities often choosing silence. The country’s legal system permits individuals to be detained not for actual crimes, but on the presumption that they might pose a future threat. Detainees and their families consistently raise concerns about inhumane conditions — overpopulation, hunger, lack of water, untreated epidemics, and no access to medicines or medical care.
The claims, though supported by witnesses, remain unverified by independent external observers. This is primarily because Cuban authorities consistently refuse access to prisons to any international organizations. Additionally, the lack of an independent civil society and the regime’s firm control over the judiciary make independent scrutiny impossible. However, even foreign prisoners have expressed similar concerns, which lends further credibility. On June 7 and 8, 2024, media reports revealed that approximately 70 foreign prisoners declared a hunger strike to protest living conditions in their separate detention units.
Prisoners Defenders, an organization headquartered in Spain that collaborates with European institutions, closely tracks the case of political prisoners in Cuba. Their latest report provides details on the profiles of these individuals, revealing disturbing figures: 33 minors, 128 women, 650 prisoners with serious medical conditions, and 70 individuals who developed mental illnesses as a result of imprisonment. Some of the most prominent figures of Cuba’s banned opposition are among those suffering under these arbitrary conditions. These include José Daniel Ferrer (54), Félix Navarro (71), Sayli Navarro (38), the artists Maikel Osorbo (41), and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara (37), among others.
Cuba’s political prisoners endure severe physical and psychological challenges. Some report being offered deals by security services to infiltrate the fragmented opposition in exchange of personal benefits. Those who reject these offers face harsher treatment.
Authorities relocate prisoners to prisons far from their families, restricting contact. For instance, leading human rights defender José Daniel Ferrer did not see any member of his family for two years. Since they are not officially recognized as political prisoners, authorities fabricate charges (such as “contempt of authority”) and place them in cells with high-risk inmates. There are documented cases where common prisoners have assaulted political detainees in return for privileges.
Manuel de Jesús Guillén Esplugas with a placard stating “Long live human rights” and the acronym “UNPACU,” standing for the Cuban dissident organization Patriotic Union of Cuba. He is holding photos of political prisoners. Image by Cosme Damian Dominguez Peñalver, used with his permission.
According to a report by Cubalex, an independent civil organization, 26 political prisoners died in police custody during the first half of 2024. Unfortunately, four more people who were imprisoned for participating in the peaceful protests in July 2021 have died since then. In August, Yosandri Mulet Almarales (37) died in a Havana hospital following several suicide attempts; in October, Gerardo Díaz Alonso (35), a father of two serving a 14-year sentence, passed away; in November, Luis Barrios Díaz (37) died after authorities delayed his access to medical treatment; and in December, Manuel de Jesús Guillén Esplugas (29) died under circumstances officially labelled as suicide.
Repression and censorship in Cuba have reached levels unseen in decades, yet the European Union has refrained from taking coordinated action to pressure the regime. Interestingly, Cuba holds a similar number of political prisoners to Belarus and Venezuela before its July 28 elections. Despite this, European leaders appear unwilling to impose sanctions or additional pressure.
In this context, Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel recently visited the European Union, meeting with the heads of government of Belgium, Italy, France, and Portugal. This visit served as a stark reminder to Cubans that they appear forgotten and left to face their dictatorship alone.
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Publish date : 2024-12-16 12:11:00
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