The health of Luis Robles Elizastigui, the “young man with the banner” imprisoned since December 2020 in the Combinado del Este prison in Havana, continues to deteriorate. In a conversation with 14ymedio, his mother, Yindra Elizastigui, denounced that she has lost at least ten pounds in a month and that she is denied medical assistance from an ophthalmology specialist.
Robles has exposed on several occasions that he suffers from severe headaches, in addition to fever, and that he needs specialized medical attention. His mother, who was able to visit him last Monday morning, indicated that he weighed around 165 pounds, at least ten less than the last record, and attributed it to “health problems that he has had” for months.
“They had promised me that they would take him to the hospital for a medical check-up for the vision problem,” says the woman. However, it was a half-truth, since the prison officials transferred him to the Combinado del Este hospital just when the ophthalmologist was not on the premises.
“What does this mean to me? That they took him to settle the supposed ‘commitment’ they had made with me,” reasons the woman, who affirms that the agents did not have the slightest intention that Robles would be treated.
Yndra Elizastigui is suing the authorities for the possibility of visiting her son on December 2, the date he will be 30 years old
“The head nurse [de Combinado del Este] he could have gone to the hospital and notified the specialist,” he says, “he could have contacted someone and said: ‘look, I have an inmate who needs to be evaluated by an ophthalmology specialist.’ But there was no coordination.”
“It seems that they took him, but it is not his fault that there is no specialist,” he concludes.
Yindra Elizastigui is demanding that the authorities allow her to visit her son on December 2, the date on which he will turn 30, and two days before the second anniversary of his arrest on San Rafael Boulevard in Havana, on December 4, 2020.
The inmate’s mother assured this newspaper that her intention is to “continue denouncing and demanding his freedom.” “I will continue raising my voice as long as I am healthy and can see my son free. If he is not here in Cuba, in another country, but free.”
Luis Robles was prosecuted for the crimes of enemy propaganda and disobedience, and sentenced to five years in prison. Since he entered the Combinado del Este his ophthalmological and gastric ailments have worsened, and he has been denied proper medical care.
The young man, born in Guantánamo, was arrested after displaying a banner that read “Freedom, no more repression, #FreeDenis”, alluding to the imprisonment of Cuban rapper Denis Solís. Graduated in computer science and father of a son, he received the support of passers-by when the Police tried to detain him by force in Havana.
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