Havana, Cuba, August 28, 2026. Martí Noticias’ street-voices segment “Cuba Habla” captured the testimony of an ordinary Cuban describing, bluntly, what awaits anyone on the island who dares to protest: beatings and prison. MADL amplifies these voices: they are living proof of what we denounce every day.
In his own words
- “This system today beats you with sticks, they pound you… and you go to prison. They tell you that you can protest peacefully, but that is all a lie. In Cuba today, whoever protests goes to prison.”
- What do people ask for when they protest? “First of all, electricity: there is almost never any. Water, food… many families with small children go to bed with nothing.”
- “People protest and protest, and nothing ever gets solved. ‘Tomorrow, the day after…’: lies, it is all lies.”
- Is peaceful protest a citizen’s right? “Of course it is. It is done everywhere in the world. The problem is that Cubans live under threat: they know that if they protest, they go to prison.”
MADL’s position
No organization needs to say it: an ordinary Cuban says it, with his face and his voice. In Cuba, the right to peaceful protest, recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (arts. 19 and 20), is paid for with beatings and prison. That is why there are hundreds of political prisoners, many for simply going out to ask for food, water and electricity. What it costs a Cuban to say this out loud I have set out with cases and sentences in another article.
The Anti-Communist Movement and Freedom Defenders (MADL) will keep documenting and amplifying these voices until protesting in Cuba no longer costs people their freedom.
🎥 Video: Martí Noticias, “Cuba Habla” segment · 🔗 Original post: Facebook, Martí Noticias