Political trial against five nonviolent Cuban demonstrators is about to start. Amnesty International asks for their release. More than a thousand young Cubans are serving long sentences for participating in similar nonviolent protests in the summer of 2021. An additional protester was arrested on May 18, 2023 therefore we are now calling for the release of the Guantanamo Six.

What is happening

Hundreds of Cubans in the municipality of Caimanera, Guantanamo, Cuba on May 6, 2023 at 7:00pm took to the streets to demand "human rights", "freedom" and chanted "Patria y Vida". Videos circulated on social media, as well as live broadcasts captured protest images that went viral internationally.

Havana quickly shutdown the internet and deployed officers from the National Special Brigade of the Ministry of the Interior. The “black berets” violently put down the protests and arrested at least five protesters.

Yandris Pelier Matos, the brothers Felipe Correa Martínez and Luis Miguel Alarcón Martínez, and brothers Rodi and Daniel Álvarez González were violently detained for taking part in this non-violent protest and Luis Miguel Alarcón Martínez was taken away unconscious as a result of the beating he suffered. 

The families of the five men were not able to see them until a brief visit five days later on May 11, 2023. Victoria Martínez Valdivia, mother of Felipe Correa Martínez and Luis Miguel Alarcón Martínez explained that Yandris Pelier Matos had a wound on his forehead that had been stitched up. She said it had been caused by the government's Black Berets that had violently broken up the protest. The other four no longer showed visible signs of injury.

These are not isolated cases. In Cuba, there are more than a thousand political prisoners in terrible conditions who have been arbitrarily detained. For example, Cuban musician and human rights defender Maykel Castillo Pérez marked two years in prison on May 18, 2023 for using his music to advocate for human rights.

On May 18, 2023 Freddy Sarquiz González, who nonviolently took part in the May 6th protest, was arrested and held at the Unit for Crimes against State Security in Guantánamo. He is seen taking part in a discussion in the first video above.

What is at stake

Families were told by the government official overseeing the case to get attorneys, that the trial could take place within four days or sooner, and the worst thing about this case, for the accused, was that the protest took place in Caimanera. Cuba does not have an independent judiciary, and all indications are that regime officials want to make a cautionary example of these five individuals to discourage future protests.

Now is the time to act

International scrutiny and strong condemnation can mitigate the level of punishment meted out by limiting Cuban officials' sense of impunity, but the time to act is now before the legal proceedings have played out. The lives of Yandris Pelier Matos, Felipe Correa Martínez, Luis Miguel Alarcón Martínez, Rodi Álvarez González, Daniel Álvarez González, and Freddy Sarquiz González are at stake. These are the Guantanamo Six. 

If enough people of good will speedily take action now their lives can still be saved. Otherwise they face long prison sentences, and greater physical abuse.

Summary

• Hundreds of nonviolent protesters were beaten down by Cuban secret police on May 6, 2023 in Caimanera located in the province of Guantanamo near the U.S. military base.
• Five were violently taken, despite offering no resistance, family were not able to see them until May 11th, and they face imminent judicial proceedings that fall short of international standards. A sixth was taken on May 18th.
• Amnesty International has demanded their immediate release and you should too.