MIAMI, United States. – Brothers Luis Miguel Alarcón Martínez and Felipe Octavio Correa Martínez, convicted for their participation in the peaceful demonstration in Caimanera on May 6, 2023, are being subjected to precarious conditions and abuse in the Combinado provincial prison in Guantánamo, according to their mother, Victoria Martínez Valdivia, in statements given to Marti News.
Both young men are part of a group of five people sentenced in July 2024 by the Niceto Pérez Municipal People’s Court, in the province of Guantánamo. The punishments they receivedwhich range from two to eight years of imprisonment, were imposed on them allegedly for having shouted “offensive phrases about the President of the Republic and local government authorities” and “causing a crowd of people in public places.”
Martínez Valdivia, who visited his children this Tuesday, told Marti News Felipe Octavio, who has an intellectual disability, is particularly suffering from the prison conditions. “Felipe is still in a state of depression, crying. The situation is very bad, many things have happened and he is nervous. He has a mental retardation and convulsions,” he explained.
The interviewee also denounced that Luis Miguel, sentenced to seven years in prison, is being harassed for his political stance and that, in addition, he must constantly protect his sick brother.
“Luis Miguel is constantly protecting his brother and trying to avoid problems in that place because there is abuse, both from common prisoners and from the same guards who are looking after them there,” said Martínez Valdivia.
He added that guards provoke and insult prisoners, which often results in physical violence.
The woman also lamented the poor living conditions in the prison, especially the poor diet and the lack of medicines to treat the various illnesses suffered by the inmates. “They don’t eat enough, there are constant outbreaks of diseases, first of all there is the plague of bedbugs and then there is dengue fever due to the lack of hygiene,” she said.
Although the families of the convicted men appealed the sentence in July, they have not yet received any answers. “I went to the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office and complained, but they say we have to keep waiting,” said Martínez Valdivia.
