The lack of fuel may have forced Cuba’s communist dictatorship to cancel May Day celebrations this year, but there are Cubans who continue rotting in Castro gulags for protesting in previous years. It appears the only thing that isn’t in short supply in Cuba is repression.
Cubans remain imprisoned for protesting the regime on May Day
Cubans Dairon Duque de Estrada Aguilera, Ediyersy Santana Jouz, and Yoandi Rodriguez remain in prison for protesting against the regime on May 1st.
Estrada Aguilera was arrested on May 1, 2020 for shouting phrases against Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, and the police in his Reparto Veguita de Galo neighborhood in the city of Santiago de Cuba.
In February of the next year, the young man, who was only 22, was sentenced to four years and 6 months in prison for the alleged crimes of propagating the epidemic and assault.
In recent statements made to Radio Television Martí, his father, Julio Cesar Duque de Estrada, said that the young laborer was a peaceful member of society and had no prior criminal history.
“He was motivated to carry out a peaceful act of freedom of expression, joining the calls for change civil society in Cuba was making in those days […] He verbally repudiated those responsible for the situation without being a militant for any opposition group,” he explained.
Likewise, Ediyersy Santana Jouz and his stepson Yoandi Rodriguez were sentenced in 2022 to two years and 3 months in prison and one year and 2 months in prison respectively. They were accused of the crimes of resistance and disrespect.
Santana Jouz, who is a member of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, was arrested after a livestream video on Facebook denouncing the decision of the Cuban government to sell alcoholic beverages to promote participation in the May Day events being held in Camagüey.
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