MADRID, Spain.- The Cuban regime granted an extrapenal license to political prisoner Carlos Manuel Pupo Rodríguez, national coordinator of the Union for Free Cuba Party (PUNCLI), due to his delicate state of health. Pupo, 70, suffered a cerebral ischemia that seriously affected the right side of his body: it left him without mobility in his arm and leg, and with an evident deviation in his mouth, according to reported the Cubalex Legal Advisory Center.
Pupo was transferred to Guanajay prison from a camp where he was being held, despite his already critical condition. It was not until his condition worsened dramatically that authorities decided to rush him to the Comandante Ciro Redondo General Hospital in Artemisa after suffering severe cerebral ischemia.
Cubalex reported that Pupo suffered a transient ischemia last Saturday, but did not receive the necessary medical attention, which triggered a second, more severe ischemia on Tuesday.
On September 6, Cubalex launched an urgent appeal for him to be granted extra-penal leave in view of the alarming deterioration of his health, exacerbated by his lack of access to adequate medical care.
In addition to cerebral ischemia, the opponent has a decompensation due to his diabetes, which has aggravated his condition.
Pupo Rodríguez’s health deterioration is not recent. Since his arrest in 2021 for participating in the July 11 protests (11J) in San Antonio de los Baños, his physical condition has been in constant decline. Pupo suffers from diabetes and hypertension, but, according to reports, has not had access to essential medications to control these conditions. In mid-August, he suffered a fall in prison while going to the bathroom, which caused a strong blow to his head and to a previously operated leg.
The history of abuse against Carlos Manuel Pupo Rodríguez is long. In 1975, he was shot in the abdomen by an officer of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), and in 1992 he lost the vision in one eye after being brutally beaten for intervening in the beating of another person. More recently, in 2017, he was assaulted by Major Osvaldo Ramírez, resulting in a fractured femur that required surgery. Ironically, following this attack, Pupo was sentenced to one year of house arrest.
Before his imprisonment in 2021, Pupo not only led PUNCLI, but was also one of the promoters of the Emilia Project, an initiative that advocates for democratic reforms in Cuba. His role in the Cuban dissidence, both as leader of an opposition political party and as a defender of human rights, has made him a key figure within the opposition movement.
