Five other people were convicted for the same offences, two of them to eight and seven years respectively.
14ymedio, Madrid, 16 January 2026 — Four months after the trial, the Provincial Court of Villa Clara has handed down its sentence for intellectual and independent journalist José Gabriel Barrenechea. The court has upheld the six-year prison sentence sought by the prosecution for the 14ymedio contributor, whom it considers guilty of public disorder for his participation in a peaceful protest against power cuts in November 2024 in the town of Encrucijada, Villa Clara.
In the ruling, dated 15 January and accessed by this newspaper, Yandri Torres Quintana was also sentenced to eight years in prison – the highest sentence – Rafael Javier Camacho Herrera to seven years, Rodel Bárbaro Rodríguez Espinosa and Marcos Daniel Díaz Rodríguez to five years, and Yuniesky Lorences Domínguez to three years. All of them, like Barrenechea, were convicted of the same single offence of public disorder, with the usual additional penalties, mainly of loss of voting rights and expulsion from the country.
The court, in the chamber for crimes against state security, considers it proven that the five defendants took to the streets on 7 November 2024 in Encrucijada during a power cut that “affected almost all provinces in the country due to the serious energy situation the country was experiencing, caused not only by the economic blockade imposed on us by the United States, but also by the damage caused by Hurricane Rafael.”
The text concludes that all the defendants arrived at the protest site “on their own”, joining a group of about 300 people who “began shouting that they wanted electricity”.
The text concludes that all the defendants arrived at the protest site – which took place in front of the headquarters of the Party and the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power – “each on their own”, joining a group of about 300 people who “began to shout that they wanted electricity”. Barrenechea is specifically singled out because he “encouraged others to join the march, not to leave the scene and to continue demanding their rights”.
According to the account of events, the defendants began banging on “pots and other objects” of a similar type but made of stainless steel, which they struck incessantly and with great force against other metal objects such as spoons and pieces of steel rod, thereby producing a great deal of noise and commotion. According to the court, this “disturbed the peace of the village,” adding as an aggravating factor that the defendants obstructed traffic by walking in the middle of the road.
The document goes on to state that despite the fact that the highest authorities in the municipality were trying to communicate the situation of the national electricity system and that electricity service was already being restored, several of the defendants continued to “disturb the peace by ringing the devices” and preventing the population from hearing the information that officials were providing them verbally. The court considers that what prevailed among them was “the intention to destabilise civic order and cause insecurity among the population” and that such acts deserve the long prison sentences that were ultimately imposed.
As usual, the ruling also considers the conduct and relationships of the defendants, noting in particular that Barrenechea “associated with people of poor moral character and social conduct” and “had no recognised employment relationship,” as the writer and journalist worked independently.
It also points out the personal relationships of Rodel Bárbaro Rodríguez Espinosa, whom it also accuses of consuming “alcoholic beverages with great frequency,” and gives a positive assessment of one of the defendants for participating “in activities organised by mass organisations” and reserves the lightest sentence for the defendant who “worked for 15 uninterrupted years in the Ministry of the Interior,” where he stood out, receiving “distinctions and recognitions.”
The ruling is not final and may be appealed before the Supreme Court, although the family members have not disclosed what they plan to do in the face of such a bleak outlook.
The ruling is not final and may be appealed before the Supreme Court, although the family members have not disclosed what they plan to do in the face of such a bleak outlook.
José Gabriel Barrenechea faces, for the moment, almost five years in prison, minus the year and two months he has already spent in provisional detention. There, he has suffered the usual poor conditions of Cuban prisons, including restrictions on visits, obstacles to receiving medicine and food, and isolation that has had repercussions on his health.
In addition, the journalist had to endure a particularly painful event during his stay at La Pendiente prison: the loss of his mother, who died of cancer in May 2025, without being allowed to say goodbye to her. The Madrid-based Cuban Human Rights Observatory described the prison authorities’ decision as part of a pattern of “systematic psychological pressure” with which the authorities seek to break the accused and send a warning message to other intellectuals and activists. The organisation had repeatedly called for Barrenechea and his co-defendants to be acquitted: “This is a political case from start to finish.”
Amnesty International’s researcher for Cuba, Johanna Cilano, expressed a similar view, saying of this case: “Protest is a right; no one should be imprisoned simply for exercising their human rights.”
On Thursday, Prisoners Defenders – also based in Madrid – put the total number of political prisoners in Cuba at the end of 2025 at 1,197, five more than in November. The organisation added ten names to its list of political prisoners, while another five were released after “serving their sentences in full”.
In 2025 as a whole, a total of 134 new prisoners were registered, with an average of more than 11 per month.
Translated by GH
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