Leonel Tristá García was detained on June 16 under an order revoking an extrapenal license obtained in 2025
14ymedio, Havana, June 29, 2026 / Political prisoner from the 11J protests Leonel Tristá García reached his 13th day on hunger strike this Monday while in custody at the Third PNR Station in Santa Clara. The fact was reported by the legal advice center Cubalex, which denounced that the 40-year-old man is at “risk to his life.”
Tristá García, who was sentenced to 8 years in prison for taking part in the mass mobilizations of July 2021, was released from prison in January 2025 thanks to the agreement announced by the Cuban regime with the Vatican. However, on June 16 he was detained at his home in Santa Clara under an order revoking his extrapenal license.
At his home in the El Condado neighborhood, police officers arrived with an alleged search warrant. According to ADN Cuba, Tristá García refused to allow his home to be searched “because he realized that the documentation was not complete.” The police left, but returned in the afternoon to arrest him on alleged charges of breach of public order and contempt.
The hunger strike began that same day. A week later, he suffered two blackouts after stopping the intake of water. Following this, “he was confined to a sealed cell with no adequate medical attention,” Cubalex noted.
A week later, he suffered two blackouts after stopping the intake of water. Following this, “he was confined to a sealed cell with no adequate medical attention.”
Three days later, last Saturday, “he lost consciousness due to his advanced state of weakness.” He was transferred as an emergency to the Arnaldo Milián Castro Provincial Hospital to be hydrated, “but the political Police ordered his immediate return to the sealed cell,” the NGO denounced.
“As he is under state custody, the Cuban State bears a heightened duty of protection over his life, health, and physical integrity,” it stressed. It further indicated that his detention “under aggravated conditions and incommunicado constitutes evidence of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.”
In its statement, the organization demanded that the authorities “guarantee specialized and continuous medical attention, respect his dignity without resorting to threats or isolation, and allow immediate access to his family and legal defense.”
The hunger strike has become the most extreme form of protest that various political prisoners on the Island have turned to. In May alone, at least 14 inmates carried out hunger strikes in Cuba, according to a Cubalex count.
In May alone, at least 14 inmates carried out hunger strikes in Cuba, according to a Cubalex count.
One such case was that of political prisoner Daniel Alfaro Frías, who began his hunger strike in Guanajay “while being subjected to psychological torture and constant threats.” Another was that of Walfrido Rodríguez Piloto, “whose strike lasted for weeks; he was transferred to the prisoners’ ward of the National Hospital of Boyeros, where he was handcuffed to his bed until State Security pressured him into ending the protest,” the center sets out in its most recent monthly human rights report on Cuba.
“These actions are not isolated incidents, but rather the desperate response of political prisoners to mistreatment, isolation, and the absence of legal guarantees within the Cuban penal system,” the report stated.
In an analysis published in 2024, the NGO noted that hunger strikes “are an extreme form of protest against the lack of guarantees, abuses, and the absence of effective channels for complaint” in the face of “systematic human rights violations and the direct responsibility of prison authorities.”
It also noted that hunger strikes are a form of protest regulated under various international legal instruments. “Although not specifically mentioned in all cases, the right to protest and freedom of expression are internationally recognized fundamental rights, and the hunger strike may be considered a manifestation of those rights,” it stated.
Translated by GH
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