AREQUIPA, Peru – Cuban political prisoner Lizandra Góngora, who was arrested on 11J, is being held incommunicado in the jail The Colonists, from the Isle of Youth, where last May there were also reports of people lacking adequate medical care.
Through a publication in X (formerly Twitter), activist and art historian Anamely Ramos denounced the situation of Góngora, who is 37 years old and was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment by the Cuban regime.
“Right now, Lizandra Góngora is incommunicado. Her husband, Ángel Delgado, was able to find out that the guards would not let him call Lizandra on Tuesday. We have no further information, so we do not know what is happening, nor the conditions Lizandra is currently in,” the text states.
The activist recalled that the political prisoner has suffered all kinds of abuses while in prison, such as punishment cells; physical violence; harassment by prison officers who have accused her of conspiring with other prisoners inside the prison; transfer to the Isle of Youth, to isolate her and separated from her family.
“Anyone could say that just one day without calling is nothing, but she has five children, three of them minors, who suffer day by day the separation from their mother. The least they can have is her voice and the peace of mind that their mother is okay, since they cannot have her at home,” the publication highlights.
In this regard, Ramos demanded that Lizandra Góngora’s calls be returned and announced that she would start an information campaign about what she and her family experience on a daily basis. “Telling how they survive and how terrible the trip to the Island to see Lizandra is. We will use the hashtag #LizandraJuntoASusHijosOtravez“, he added.
In early March, Góngora was rushed to hospital after the discovery of a fibroid, and has since waited in vain for the necessary operation.
Her husband, Angel Delgado, shared with Marti News the conditions in which Lizandra is found. “She could have something wrong and they haven’t done any tests, they haven’t done anything. They did some tests to see if they could operate on her but there is a queue of 1,300 people,” lamented Delgado.
According to Delgado, Lizandra’s condition has worsened, and her health is deteriorating as she awaits medical attention. “She can’t push herself,” he said, adding that his wife is forced to pay other inmates to help her with basic tasks such as washing clothes or carrying water. “She has to pay to have her washed, to have a bucket of water brought to her for the bathroom, she has to pay for everything with cigarettes,” he said.
The medical attention The man claims that the care Lizandra has received does not meet the minimum quality standards. The doctor assigned to her case has military training and “treats her very badly, and Lizandra does not want to see her.”
Lizandra Góngora would be released from prison at the age of 49 if she serves her full sentence. She was sentenced for her participation in the demonstrations of July 11, 2021 in Güira de Melena. When sentencing her, the regime accused her of having attacked a store in Freely Convertible Currency (MLC), although the images only show her on the outskirts of the center.
