The political prisoner described the El Pitirre prison as “one of the largest concentration camps that the Castro dictatorship has ever created.”
HAVANA, Cuba. – The opponent, human rights activist and 11J protester Walfrido Rodríguez Piloto was transferred on January 16 from the Ivanov prison to El Pitirre, according to what he himself reported in a telephone conversation with CubaNet.
According to the political prisoner, prison authorities have frequently transferred him in retaliation for his protests. For example, he had previously been transferred to Ivanov from the Eastern Combine following a hunger strike that lasted 27 days.
The reason for the transfer on this occasion, the political prisoner detailed, would have been another hunger strike that began on December 17, 2025 in protest of the insults and humiliation of Ivanov’s head of Internal Order, Captain Sandy Gómez Miller.
According to Rodríguez Piloto, this officer used to abuse him physically and psychologically: he offended him, humiliated him, left him naked in the cell in cold weather, beat him, suspended family and conjugal visits, and numerous other violations of his human rights.
Rodríguez Piloto also explained that this strike, which he maintained for seven days, caused a heart murmur. As he explained, four days after starting the protest he had to be hospitalized at the Dr. Salvador Allende Clinical Surgical Teaching Hospital (former Quinta Covadonga), where they performed an electrocardiogram and diagnosed him. There they kept him in intensive care for a day and the next day they transferred him to the prison ward.
The opponent also highlighted that in the maximum rigor prison, also known as 15-80, they have not administered any medication to date. In this sense, he indicated, he also does not know what the specialist prescribed, since he has not had access to his medical history.
Walfrido Rodríguez Piloto, 58 years old, suffers from various pathologies, including chronic asthma, hypertension, chronic ulcer and dermatitis.
The political prisoner described 15-80 as “one of the largest concentration camps that the Castro dictatorship has ever created.” As for the food, he pointed out, it consists of a flour paste “that looks like a mixture for putting blocks” and a little rice with the same appearance. Complete the menu with some watery broth without substance.
Rodríguez Piloto also wanted to highlight that the prison is infested with bedbugs that “are going to kill the prison population.”
Regarding water, the activist pointed out that due to the poor state of the liquid, since he arrived at the penitentiary center “his diarrhea has not gone away.” According to him, “it is bad in all prisons but in this one it is worse.” Likewise, he clarified that the prisoners do not know the origin of the water that supplies the prison.
The 9/11 protester emphasized that, although visits must be monthly, he has not been able to see his family for three months now. He had also not been able to communicate with them, he added, because since his transfer they had not allowed him to speak on the phone.
Regarding his transfer, Rodríguez Piloto revealed that the Ivanov prison was “emptied” in anticipation of future arrests in the event of popular protests such as those that occurred on July 11, 2021. Only some prisoners remained in the Cotorro prison, he assured, in a minimum severity regime.
Walfrido Rodríguez Piloto was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crimes of public disorder and contempt. During this phone call, the political prisoner took the opportunity to demand his immediate release “without minimum and without conditional release,” since he is imprisoned for “requesting freedom, food and medicine for the children.”
