Christopher Landau and Mike Hamme also addressed “the economic crisis in Cuba,” which, they said, is due to “the regime’s failed policies.”
MIAMI, United States. – The United States Embassy in Cuba reported in X that the Undersecretary of State Christopher Landau held a meeting with the US head of mission in Havana, Mike Hammerin which they addressed “the failed policies of the regime” and denounced that “repression and abuse of human rights continue daily,” while demanding the release of “the hundreds of political prisoners.”
Landau and Hammer “spoke about the economic crisis in Cuba caused by the regime’s failed policies,” according to the diplomatic headquarters’ publication, which also denounced that “repression and abuse of human rights continue daily” on the island.
“It is time to release the hundreds of political prisoners: women, men, young people who simply protested the terrible conditions that the people are suffering,” the message concludes.
In the meeting between @DeputySecState Chris Landau and our Chief of Mission Mike Hammer spoke about the economic crisis in Cuba caused by the regime’s failed policies. Furthermore, repression and abuse of human rights continues daily. It’s time to free… pic.twitter.com/X3FhAM63Nn
— United States Embassy in Cuba (@USEmbCuba) December 22, 2025
In recent months, Hammer’s administration has had an unusually active public profile within Cuba, with meetings with citizens, entrepreneurs and relatives of prisoners, which has caused open clashes with the regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX).
Last May, Havana issued a “verbal warning” for the alleged “interventionist” behavior of Hammer, whom it accused of encouraging the population to “oppose” the authorities.
In parallel, international organizations and mechanisms have continued to document the magnitude of the repression in the largest of the Antilles. According to Prisoners Defenderson the Island there are 1,192 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. Human Rights Watch, for its part, has described arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, ill-treatment and torture against critics and protesters, and noted that “more than 650” protesters — including “more than 40 women” — remained imprisoned, by their count.
Even the UN has spoken out regarding the violation of human rights in Cuba: in an opinion from the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGDA)details patterns associated with detentions after July 11, 2021, including periods of solitary confinement, lack of timely access to defense and allegations of mistreatment, in addition to references to prison conditions and lack of medical care in individual cases.
