An outbreak of tuberculosis forced the staff of the Combinado del Este prison in Havana to quarantine part of the inmates, denounced the activist Marcel Valdés on Facebook. The information was confirmed by the political prisoner Luis Armando Cruz Aguilera, who sent a message to his mother.
Cruz Aguilera, who was sentenced after the appeal hearing to 10 years in prison for the crime of sedition for participating in the demonstrations on July 11, 2021 at the corner of Toyo (Havana), he is in “building 1, floor 2, 2nd North”, where they keep the inmates isolated. Valdés requested support to find out if there were political prisoners in a similar situation.
Several relatives of inmates confirmed to Valdés that due to the outbreak of tuberculosis visits were “cancelled” and the inmates “are not given a patio and cannot have contact with other prisoners.” He also denounced the lack of medicines: “There is not even an aspirin for pain or fever.”
The activist stressed that the first inmate (common prisoner) to be infected “was not given medical attention when it was due and he spent days sick until he was taken away in very poor condition.”
The activist Marcel Valdés stressed that the first inmate (common prisoner) who became infected was not given medical attention when it was due
The Free Cuban Medical Guild confirmed the tuberculosis outbreak with toilets from the Hygiene and Epidemiology area to which the prison belongs. In his social networks, he stressed that this disease can occur 100 times more in prisons.
“This is usually due to overcrowding of inmates, insufficient ventilation, lack of knowledge of preventive measures, and lack of supervision and compliance with treatment,” they commented.
In the same complaint, the Free Cuban Medical Guild points out that “the dungeons” of the Combinado del Este were “prepared” to lock up 9/11 protesters. The so-called “increased area” is a punishment zone with cells four meters long by 1.80 meters wide.
The hygienic technicians who have “attended” the tuberculosis outbreak with almost no resources are placing the sick in “cement bunks” and “trying to isolate those who cough a lot and sputum blood.”
In the Combinado del Este there is a free area between the isolation cells, which, the union explained, “is less than two square meters, they do not have electricity and only dim natural light arrives during part of the day.”
“All these cells lack ventilation, since they do not have windows, only a door and therefore the air does not circulate. In addition, they leak through the ceiling and harbor mold. Very few have a tube, without a faucet, through which water comes out three times a day,” they continue.
In addition, they emphasize that the inmates are not given more than three buckets of water per person per day, “without minimum standards of hygiene through polypressthe calls corridorswho are prisoners who collaborate and work for the prison authorities”.
The prisoners of the Combinado del Este denounce, in addition, “the use of torches in front of the cells, it is a rudimentary lighting system to face blackouts with torches made of rags and oil that pollutes the air and does not allow them to breathe at night “, a situation that has been denounced since last September 12, 2022.
In the maximum security prison of Combinado del Este, the largest on the Island, there is also Yussuan Villalba Sierraanother of the participants in the 11J protests, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime of sedition.
Villalba Sierra, who on February 24 denounced the lack of medical care for an alleged kidney stone condition. “The regime denies them medical attention as part of the torture they receive for simply raising their voices for the Freedom of Cuba,” Marcel Valdés stated on his social networks.
Yindra Elizastigui, the mother of Louis Roblesthe “young man with the banner”, who has been imprisoned since December 2020 in the same prison, has repeatedly denounced the mistreatment suffered by his son in prison and the lack of medical assistance from an ophthalmology specialist.
Elizastigui has also spoken about the lack of a medical check-up despite the fact that his son has presented severe headaches, as well as a fever.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
