Press Release
Ailing political prisoner Alexander Díaz was brutally beaten for refusing to engage in forced labor.
Cuban political prisoner’s mother appeals for his life and release (Video by Moraima Rodriguez)
Contacts: John Suarez (612) 367-6845 and Janisset Rivero (786) 208-6056
Center for a Free Cuba, May 31, 2025, Washington, DC. Moraima Rodriguez released an urgent video from the Abel Santamaria Hospital in Pinar del Rio, pleading for the release of her son, the ailing political prisoner Alexander Díaz Rodríguez, and that he receive adequate medical care.
On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, Alexander was beaten by officials at Correctional Center 25 1/2, located in Cabo de San Antonio, Cuba’s westernmost region, for refusing to engage in forced labor. Hours after the beating, he was transferred to the Convict Ward of the aforementioned hospital.
Moraima has not been able to see her son.
“My son was beaten at the Combinado del Este in Pinar del Río, in Cabo de San Antonio, on the 25½. My son is a cancer patient and has been diagnosed with hepatitis B. He is currently on IVs and oxygen. I ask all human rights institutions to advocate for my son’s life. My son’s health is delicate. My son is undergoing life-saving surgery because he has thyroid cancer, and he has not received the necessary care. I hold the authorities at the Combinado del Este in Cabo de San Antonio, responsible for my son’s life and health. I demand my son’s immediate release,” stated Moraima Rodríguez, adding that she has submitted three requests for extra-penal parole, all of which have been denied.
“The response has been that they are prisoners who protested on July 11th and that my son will not be released. I demand justice and that they intercede for my son’s health, that they intercede for my son’s life,” she concluded.
The Center for a Free Cuba sent an urgent communication to human rights organizations this past Thursday, May 29, requesting their intervention with the Havana regime, especially in the cases of political prisoners Alexander Diaz Rodríguez and Félix Navarro Rodríguez.
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