MADRID, Spain.- This Tuesday a campaign was created on the Change.org platform in solidarity with Lizandra Góngora Espinosa, a Cuban mother of five children, who is currently serving a 14-year prison sentence in Cuba for political reasons. The petition, addressed to the international community, human rights organizations and governments around the world, aims to raise awareness of her case and demand her immediate release. At the time of writing this note, the campaign has accumulated 172 signatures.
Lizandra Góngora was arrested for her participation in the peaceful protests of July 11, 2021 (11J) in Güira de Melena, Artemisa, where she joined thousands of Cubans calling for freedom and an end to the country’s political system. Cuban authorities unjustly accused her of sabotage, robbery and public disorder. The Change.org petition highlights that these accusations are false and motivated by her role as a member of the Cuban Republican Party, an organization opposed to the regime.
The campaign text states that “his only ‘crime’ was raising his voice” during the demonstrations and that Góngora has been the victim of reprisals due to his active political participation. Since his imprisonment in the prison of The Settlerslocated on the Isle of Youth, has faced inhumane conditions, the petition alleges.
In the document posted on Change.org, it is described how Góngora has been threatened by other inmates and has suffered a serious lack of medical care, which has deteriorated your health statusHer ailments include a fibroid, which causes bleeding and constant pain, as well as sicklemia, a disease that affects red blood cells and has caused severe weight loss. The mother of five now weighs about 100 pounds, a deterioration linked to poor nutrition and lack of medical care in prison.
In March of this year, Góngora was hospitalized due to health complications, but, according to the complaint, since her return to prison she has not received specialized medical care. Human rights organizations pushing for her release have expressed concern about the seriousness of her condition.
Her five children, three of whom are minors, live in Mayabeque, more than 300 kilometers away from the prison, which has complicated visits and increased the family’s suffering.
The text of the petition highlights that the distance between the prison and the family home is not accidental. “This intentional distancing is a strategy of the regime to punish not only her, but also her children,” the campaign reads. The complaint points out that this is a pattern of reprisals against political opponents in Cuba, who, in addition to facing unjust charges and imprisonment, suffer the indirect punishment of seeing their loved ones collaterally affected.
According to the petition, the children have been victims of bullying at school due to their mother’s political position, and the emotional situation has deteriorated further. One of her sons has started having seizures due to stress, while one of the younger daughters has had to start working as an ironer to help support the family.
Góngora’s husband, Ángel Delgado, has been subjected to pressure from the authorities. He has received warning letters threatening to take custody of the children if they continue to skip school to visit their mother in prison. This situation has aggravated the suffering of the family, who face not only forced separation, but also the risk of further government intervention in their daily lives.
The Change.org campaign highlights that despite all this, Lizandra “has endured with admirable fortitude the injustices she has suffered since her arrest.” However, the urgent need to act is underlined due to the progressive deterioration of her health and the continued suffering of her family. The petition concludes with a call to the international community to join in the demand for her release. “We cannot allow a mother who peacefully fought for the freedom of her people to continue to be punished in such a cruel manner,” the campaign states.
This campaign on Change.org arose a few days after posts on social media in support of Lizandra Góngora gained momentum, after it became known that the activist had been urgently admitted to the Héroes de Baire General Teaching Hospital in Nueva Gerona.
