Havana (AFP) – The repression against dissent in Cuba is once again gaining international prominence. Amnesty International warned on Monday about an increase in arbitrary arrests and denounced the deterioration of the health status of several political prisoners, also mentioning surveillance, harassment and increasing pressure against opponents and their families.
First modification: 02/10/2026 - 12:23
Amnesty International (AI) denounced on Monday an "escalation of arbitrary detentions" in Cuba, and expressed its concern about the "alarming state of health" of some political prisoners on the island.
"Amnesty International is deeply concerned about the escalation of arbitrary detentions, illegal surveillance and harassment against relatives of prisoners of conscience (...) in Cuba," the organization said in a statement.
Several human rights organizations, the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) and the United States embassy in Havana also denounced the arrest on Friday in the province of Holguín (northeast) of Ernesto Ricardo Medina and Kamil Zayas Pérez, members of the independent audiovisual project El4tico, with thousands of followers on the networks.
Medina and Pérez have used the networks to give their vision of the reality facing the island, mired in a deep economic crisis, and openly criticize the communist government.
"Arbitrary short-term detentions (...) are part of a systematic pattern of authoritarian practices that the Cuban State uses to punish and deter any form of dissent," said AI researcher for the Caribbean, Johanna Cilano, quoted in the statement.
AI also expressed "its concern about the alarming state of health of several prisoners of conscience," among whom it mentioned Félix Navarro, a member of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, a dissident movement founded by the now exiled José Daniel Ferrer.
Likewise, the organization expressed its concern for Maykel Castillo Pérez (Maykel "Osorbo"), co-author of the song Patria y Vida. He was recently transferred from prison, without "his relatives having been informed in a timely manner."
Amnesty International is "closely" following the case of dissident artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara.
He also asked the Cuban government to release "all prisoners of conscience" and to end "arbitrary detentions, illegal surveillance and harassment" of opponents and their families.
Read alsoCuba against the wall: what is known about the rapprochements between Havana and Washington?
Havana denies the existence of political prisoners on the island and accuses opponents of being "mercenaries" of the United States.
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