Havana/The official portal Reasons for Cuba This Saturday he published a denial in which he denies the existence of the riot that occurred last Thursday in the Canaleta high-security prison, in Ciego de Ávila, which claimed the lives of at least seven people. “There were no disturbances in the perimeter or common areas, there were no large-scale confrontations with the guard forces, there was no riot!” sentence forcefully in his publication in which he assures that “everything is under control” and the rumors are only hoaxes orchestrated by organizations financed by Florida and points directly to the NGO Prisoner Defenders, whose headquarters, by the way, is in Spain. . The publication assures that the reality is only one: “In Cuba, tranquility and order are maintained.”
Hours before the Ministry of the Interior of Cuba had recognized in a brief statement, what it described as an “incident that disturbed order,” but did not report any deaths or injuries.
The official statement that covers less than a paragraph points out, without saying much more, that “the events occurred when two individuals punished for the crimes of Robbery with Force, Theft and Sacrifice of Large Livestock, Evasion of Detainees and Illegal Possession of a Knife committed a serious violation of the penitentiary regulations” and concludes by ensuring that “as a result of the actions by forces of the Ministry of the Interior, order was restored with rationality and determination”, and states that “events such as these transgress the tranquility of the penitentiary system and will receive the rigor of socialist legality for the benefit of collective security.”
The revolt would be linked to the shortage of food and mistreatment inside the prison
According to the testimony of a prisoner, who the EFE agency had accessa greater number of agents were deployed inside the prison and rubber projectiles and pepper spray were used, in addition to beatings. According to this same testimony, the revolt would be linked to the shortage of food and mistreatment inside the prison, as well as general political discontent with the Government. Among the numerous situations of abuse reported, the source mentions beatings of inmates, confinement in disciplinary cells, transfers carried out under coercion, lack of drinking water and lack of medical care for people with chronic conditions.
Another witness who spoke with the NGO Prisoner Defenders – whom the ruling party openly attacks – assured that what sparked the revolt was the hanging of a young inmate who had protested the lack of food inside the prison. “He couldn’t take it anymore from hunger, they beat him very badly and he appeared hanged in the cell,” he said. According to this same source, the prisoners chanted anti-government slogans.
The NGO Documentation Center for Cuban Prisons, based in Mexico, has reported a minimum of 60 deaths in the country’s prisons between March 2024 and March 2025. Of that total, 47 deaths were linked to physical or mental health problems, as well as the absence of timely medical attention, while another seven cases were attributed to acts of direct violence. Such was the case of Lázaro García Riosa prisoner sentenced to 20 years in prison after being detained without an arrest warrant for throwing Molotov cocktails at the Archive of the Popular Court of Central Havana. He died on January 22 without having received medical attention inside the prison.
Cuba currently breaks records for the number of political prisoners, with 1,207 people imprisoned and 18 new cases so far this year alone, according to figures provided by Prisoner Defenders.
