Death threats against political prisoners by prison officials, and the arbitrary detention of prisoner of conscience Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara
Artist and San Isidro Movement co-founder Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, imprisoned since July 11, 2021, for “outrage against national symbols,” began a daily 12-hour fast (6:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.) on March 27, 2026. He and fellow political prisoners Daniel Alfaro Frías and Jorge Ayala face explicit death threats from Department 21 State Security agents and provincial prison chief Javier Reboso during a March 21, 2026 prison cell inspection at Guanajay maximum-security prison (Artemisa).
Agents told Luis Manuel they would “kill you here” with the same AKM rifles he had mentioned in a debate about the regime’s military capacity.
“They were provoking Alcántara… they got into an argument and threatened to come kill him with an AKM. They said this was because Alcántara had asked them if they really thought they could repel an attack from any other country using just four AKMs,” explained Alfaro. Faced with this challenge from the artist regarding their military capabilities, the officers responded directly: “We one of those very same AKMs you mentioned—we’ll come here, but we will kill you right here.”
Alfaro was warned that any U.S. intervention would result in prisoners being killed first. Cubalex’s habeas corpus petition—arguing Otero had already served his five-year sentence through provisional detention and good-behavior credit—was rejected on March 23, 2026. Otero’s health is already critical (he is suffering from chikungunya, herpes, parasites, and other infections) and Luis Manuel receives inadequate medical care.
Case of Jonathan Muir Burgos (age 16)teenage son of evangelical Pastor Elier Muir Ávila
Jonathan Muir Burgos ( age 16)
The teenage son of evangelical Pastor Elier Muir Ávila was detained March 16 after he and his father answered a police summons in Morón. The father was released the same day, but Jonathan remains held at the Technical Investigations Department (DTI) in Ciego de Ávila. His attorney filed for a change in precautionary measures, citing the minor’s chronic illnesses and fragile health, requesting house arrest pending trial.
A habeas corpus petition was rejected on March 25, 2026 The case is drawing international attention: U.S. Representatives María Elvira Salazar and Carlos Giménez, among others, have publicly demanded his immediate release. Pastor Mario Félix Lleonart of the Patmos Institute noted that prosecuting Jonathan would logically require trying “all the residents of Morón,” who joined the protests en masse.
A petition is circulating online demanding his release. Please sign and share with others.
Muir Burgos remains detained at the Technical Department of Investigations (DTI) in Ciego de Ávila, alongside 13 other protest participants, according to data compiled by Cubalex.
Yolanda Huerga, of Marti Noticias, reported this afternoon that a source familiar with the case had told them Jonathan Muir was being charged with “sabotage.”
The crime of sabotage—along with other severe charges—was also employed against attendees of the mass demonstrations on July 11, 2021, as part of a forceful penal response aimed at punishing participation in anti-government mobilizations.
Cuban Spring of Fire Protests: Placing the plight of Jonathan Muir and Luis Manuel in context to the rising tension and protests in Cuba
Cuba is experiencing a wave of anti-regime protests, dubbed the “Cuban Spring of Fire” by Journalist Yoe Suarez in The Washington Standard. Sparked by rising repression, chronic blackouts, food shortages, and water scarcity caused by regime decades long neglect of aging power plants. Nightly “cacerolazos” (pot-banging), street blockades, trash burnings, and anti-dictatorship graffiti have appeared in neighborhoods.
Cuban Protesters chant “Down with the dictatorship!”, “We are not afraid!”, and “Freedom!”
Some evangelical Christians have been present in the unrest. In Jaimanitas (Havana), independent journalist and Evangelical League member Yunia Figueredo was detained after leading a cacerolazo on March 10, 2026. Police smashed her phone in front of her young daughters.
An unnamed evangelical pastor in Havana’s Buenavista neighborhood allegedly took part in protests involving cacerolazos and burning trash. Trash is not being collected, is piling up, and residents are resorting to burning garbage to reduce the risk of epidemics. In Morón (Ciego de Ávila province), hundreds of residents marched in protest on March 13–14, 2026 surrounding the police station and Communist Party headquarters. The regime responded with a widespread crackdown.
These developments underscore Havana’s intensified repression against both civilian protesters and long-term political prisoners amid the ongoing and rising number and intensity of protests in the island. Human rights groups warn that political prisoners in Guanajay are in immediate danger. As of March 29, 2026 Jonathan Muir remains detained and Otero’s protest fast continues.
CiberCuba , March 29, 2026
The lawyer for the teenager Jonathan Muir requests his release due to his delicate health condition
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By CiberCuba Editorial Team
The lawyer of the Cuban teenager Jonathan David Muir Burgos, 16 years old, detained at the Technical Investigation Department (DTI) of Ciego de Ávila, is seeking a change in the precautionary measure based on the minor’s delicate health condition, with the aim of sending him home, even if it is pending trial.
“The family recently appointed a lawyer who is trying to use Jonathan’s updated medical records of chronic illnesses to argue that he cannot be in those conditions and therefore must be sent home, even if it is while awaiting trial, but at home,” said to Martí Noticias pastor Mario Félix Lleonart, director of the Patmos Institute, based in Washington DC.
“Let’s hope they release him for humanitarian reasons and that they don’t hold any trial, because in the end, if they are going to hold a trial, they would have to trial all the residents of Morón, as Morón completely took to the streets demanding freedom,” the executive added.
Next Monday, March 30, Jonathan will have been in detention for two weeks, after he attended a police summons in Morón with his father, Pastor Elier Muir on March 16 and was taken to the DTI while his father was released that same day at 5:30 in the afternoon.
The detention of a 16-year-old boy with a medical condition has sparked increasing national and international pressure on the Cuban authorities.
The court, however, already rejected the habeas corpus request submitted on behalf of the minor on March 25, which has led the defense to explore other legal avenues to achieve his release or at least his transfer to his family home.
The arrest of Jonathan occurred in the context of the largest wave of mobilizations against the Cuban dictatorship recorded in recent times, which has brought the case under the scrutiny of human rights organizations and international political figures.
U.S. Congress members such as María Elvira Salazar, Carlos Giménez and other legislators have publicly demanded the immediate release of the teenager, increasing pressure on the Cuban regime to end his detention.
Political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero on hunger strike: death threats reported in Cuban prison
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By CiberCuba Editorial Team
The Cuban political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara undertook a daily fast of 12 hours this Thursday—from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.—which he will continue until next Tuesday.
According to the information shared on the artist’s Facebook profile, this protest is happening while death threats against him from State Security officials are being reported from the Guanajay prison.
According to the testimony of Daniel Alfaro Frías, another political prisoner held in Guanajay, agents from Department 21 of State Security and the chief of prisons in the province, Javier Reboso, conducted an inspection in the cells on Friday, which resulted in a direct confrontation with Otero Alcántara.
During the review, the agents provoked the artist and co-founder of the San Isidro Movement. When Otero questioned the regime’s military capability to repel an external attack, the officers responded with an explicit threat: “With one of those AKMs you mentioned, we come here, but we’re going to kill you here,” reported Martí Noticias.
Alfaro, who is the coordinator of the Opponents for a New Republic movement and sentenced to nine years in prison, was also threatened during the same inspection: “If the Americans come here to Cuba, the first thing they will do is kill us.” The political prisoner Jorge Ayala was also threatened on that day.
According to the organization Cubalex, Alfaro also clearly warned about the situation: “Political prisoners today are in danger for their lives here in the Guanajay prison.”
Otero Alcántara’s hunger strike takes place amidst a series of legal arbitrarinesses.
In early March, the organization Cubalex filed a habeas corpus petition arguing that the artist would have already served his entire five-year sentence: he has spent four years and seven months in provisional detention since July 11, 2021, plus eight months for good behavior, which exceeds the imposed penalty.
The Provincial People’s Court of Artemisa rejected the appeal on March 23, stating that it was not competent to rule on the matter.
In a statement, Cubalex described this ruling as legally contradictory: “The court claims that Luis Manuel is in ‘provisional detention’ while simultaneously serving a sentence. This is legally incompatible and demonstrates arbitrary action.”
On that same day, the court refused to accept the appeal within the legal deadline, arguing that “an official was unavailable.”
Their imprisonment constitutes illegal detention, according to human rights organizations.
Otero Alcántara was arrested on July 11, 2021, while trying to join the anti-government protests that shook all of Cuba that day, and he was sentenced in June 2022 to five years in prison for “outrage against national symbols.”
They are threatening Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and other political prisoners with death in the Guanajay prison
Latest News
By CiberCuba Editorial Team
Agents of the State Security and prison authorities threatened political prisoners with death this Friday: Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Daniel Alfaro Frías, and Jorge Ayala in the maximum-security prison of Guanajay, in the province of Artemisa.
Alfaro Frías reported the events through a phone call to Martí Noticias, in which he described how officials from Department 21 and the prison director in the province, Javier Reboso, conducted an inspection in the cells that led to direct confrontations with the inmates.
According to Alfaro’s testimony, the agents provoked Otero Alcántara during the search, and the artist questioned the regime’s military capability by asking if they believed they could repel a foreign attack with just four AKM rifles.
The response from the officials was a direct threat: “With one of those same AKMs that you mentioned, we come here, but we are going to kill you here.”
“They were provoking Alcántara… they entered into a debate and threatened him that they were coming to kill him with an AKM,” he stated.
Alfaro Frías, aged 62, also reported being personally threatened in light of a possible scenario of foreign intervention on the island: “I was threatened that if the Americans come here to Cuba, the first thing they’re going to do is kill us.”
The activist, coordinator of the movement Opositores por una Nueva República, is serving a nine-year sentence for crimes of unlawful association and demonstrations after being arrested in San Antonio de los Baños in 2024.
Threats occurred just four days after the Provincial Popular Court of Artemisa rejected, last Monday, the habeas corpus petition filed by the organization Cubalex to achieve the immediate release of Otero Alcántara, who, according to the defense, would have already served his five-year sentence by adding the time spent in provisional detention and reductions for good behavior.
Otero Alcántara, leader of the San Isidro Movement, has been imprisoned since July 11, 2021, when he was arrested while attempting to join the anti-government protests that shook all of Cuba on that day.
His health condition is critical: he suffers from chikungunya, skin herpes, intestinal parasites, and infections without receiving adequate medical attention, and in December 2025 he began a new hunger strike in protest of his confinement conditions.
The Department 21 of State Security is the counterintelligence section of the Ministry of the Interior, specialized in monitoring and repressing dissidents, and its presence at this Friday’s inspection underscores the political nature of the threats.
Alfaro Frías concluded his report with a warning about the general situation in the prison: “Political prisoners today are in danger for our lives here in the prison, at least here in the prison of Guanajay”.
March 23, 2026
Yunia Figueredo was fed up with the hours without electricity, with enduring the stifling nights of Jaimanitas — a town west of Havana — without a fan to ward off the mosquitoes and their merciless bites. In the mornings, there were endless lines just to get something to eat; at night, sleep was impossible. She would watch her husband and her daughters — both minors — wake up defeated by a perpetual exhaustion, with little or nothing to eat for breakfast.
Her only solace was the sea breeze, just a few meters from her home — the very place from which she hauled buckets of water to keep the plumbing running in the small house where she lives. Without electrical power, the State — which controls all public utility companies — is unable to pump water regularly to a city of some two million inhabitants.
These blackouts have a cause: socialist inefficiency in repairing or modernizing aging thermoelectric power plants — some dating back to the Republican and Soviet eras — and corruption. According to a senior official in Washington, in 2025, the regime resold a large portion of its subsidized Venezuelan oil — some 70,000 barrels per day of crude and refined products — valued at $1.3 billion.
Yunia had already reported on the situation in Jaimanitas for the media outlets where she works as an independent journalist. But nothing had changed. “Everything here in Jaimanitas is a disaster,” she told me for this article. “There is absolutely nothing.”
That is why, on March 10 at 2:00 a.m., she stepped out onto the neighborhood’s poorly paved street and broken sidewalk, carrying empty pots and pans, to protest against the blackouts. For an hour, she recounted, she banged those empty vessels in the street, until nearly half a dozen neighbors joined her.
The protest that Yunia initiated is part of a wave of demonstrations against socialism — undoubtedly the largest wave of its kind since July 11 and 12, 2021 (events collectively known as 11J). Amidst these events — which began on March 6 — groups of residents take to the streets every night to protest. The most recurring forms of protest these days include “cacerolazos” (banging pots and pans), burning trash, painting anti-regime graffiti in public spaces, and blocking streets in various regions of the island. And, in a sort of contagion effect, more neighborhoods are beginning to lose their fear.
Yunia, who attends the Evangelical League of Cuba along with her family, was detained on the afternoon of the day the “cacerolazos” began, according to the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression. During her detention, police officers threw Yunia’s phone to the ground — all of this right in front of her daughters. “My girls shouted things at the police officers as they took me away,” Yunia recalled for this article. After the patrol car sped off, she spent several hours at an undisclosed location.
She is not the only Christian who has taken to the streets during this wave of protests.
Defying the infamous adage that Christians do not get involved in politics, diverse voices of believers have joined those of civil society over the last six decades to demand freedom. In fact — particularly during the 2018-2022 period, through the Evangelical Civic Movement — the Cuban Church took the initiative in saying “No” to the policies of the totalitarian state.
As an extension of that momentum, from 2025 to the present day, another phenomenon has emerged: the most far-reaching independent political voices within Cuba today belong to young evangelicals. Among them are Anna Bensi, Iván Daniel Calás, and Ernesto Ricardo Medina; The latter is currently imprisoned for his criticisms of the system voiced through the El4tico project, which he co-founded.
On March 11 — as part of the wave of protests constituting this Cuban Spring of Fire — an evangelical pastor from the Buenavista neighborhood in Havana also stepped out of his home. For security reasons, I cannot reveal his name; however, thanks to him, we now know that on that night, his neighborhood witnessed the burning of trash and “cacerolazos” events that have gone unreported by other media outlets.
Two days later, 450 kilometers east of the capital, another protest took place: one that would mark a turning point in the history of the anti-Castro movement.
On the night of March 13 and into the early hours of the 14th, hundreds of residents of the town of Morón — located in the center of the country — took to the streets chanting: “Down with the dictatorship!”, “We are not afraid!”, “Turn on the power!”, and “Freedom!” They marched until they surrounded the local station of the National Revolutionary Police, while uniformed officers scrambled to cordon off the building.
Subsequently, the protest spread to the municipal headquarters of the Communist Party of Cuba, where some of the demonstrators hurled stones at the building and lit a bonfire in the street using documents and furniture taken from the premises.
In the days following the demonstration, the regime unleashed a witch hunt against alleged protesters. The youngest son of evangelical pastor Elier Muir Ávila — 16-year-old Jonathan Muir Burgos — remains in detention after being summoned, along with his father, to a police station and subsequently transferred to an undisclosed location, amidst growing tension in Morón.
Both men were taken into custody by military personnel on charges of participating in the intense protests. For hours, the family had no information regarding their whereabouts. Concern deepened among family members and activists consulted for this article due to the teenager’s delicate health condition.
Hours later, human rights organizations confirmed that the pastor had been released, though his son had not. He remained in custody at the Technical Investigations Department in the city of Ciego de Ávila. There — according to reports I was able to access — he was reportedly being processed and threatened with facing charges “with the full weight of the law.”
Protests continue every night in Cuba. The repression promises to do the same. Castroism does not appear to want the country’s reality to change; will the unwavering will of the people in the streets succeed in changing it?