The Cuban regime intensifies its crackdown on dissidents as discontent grows across the country
14ymedio, Havana 10 April 2026 — Cuba’s Supreme People’s Court ratified the five-year prison sentence against artist Fernando Almenares Rivera, known as Nando OBDC, after dismissing the appeal filed by his defense.
The decision was communicated to his family this week, according to Almenares’ mother, Eva Rivera, who spoke to 14ymedio: “Unfortunately, it was denied. I expected that to happen. I don’t expect anything better from this government.”
The appeal filed by the artist’s defense alleged a lack of substantiation in the assessment of the evidence in its previous sentence and errors in the appreciation of aggravating circumstances.
The ruling established that Almenares wrote messages on pieces of bedsheets intended to incite the population “to take action against the government,” which he then placed in visible locations for public dissemination. As an aggravating circumstance, it noted that the accused had received money from abroad to carry out the action.
The court maintains that these acts constitute the crime of propaganda against the constitutional order, considering it proven that the accused acted with the purpose of “inciting against the social order and the socialist state”; and confirms the sentence “in all its parts and declares it final. No appeal is authorized against this sentence.”
The Court “confirms the judgment in its entirety and declares it final. No appeal is permitted against this judgment.”
After nearly a year in detention without charges, Almenares was sentenced on December 22, 2025 to five years in prison. The sentence was continue reading
The process began with a search warrant issued on January 2, 2025 for an alleged crime of sabotage, but the record only records the seizure of a Cuban flag, without evidence related to that charge.
Months later, the charges were reformulated as propaganda against the constitutional order, based on the artistic action of painting slogans such as “Cuba Primero en las calles por los derechos humanos” [Cuba First in the streets for human rights] on pieces of fabric and placing them in visible locations. The court considered that these acts were intended to “disturb public peace” and “create discontent,” according to the ruling, to which 14ymedio had access.
The artist’s family and civil organizations have questioned the validity of the proceedings. Eva Rivera has denounced errors in the basic information of the case file and the lack of conclusive evidence. Cubalex points out contradictions in the process and demands the artist’s release. The Cuban Youth Dialogue Table described the trial, held in November 2025, as “a farce” and condemned its political nature.
Julie Trébault, director of Artists at Risk Connection, also expressed concern about the case: “The Cuban government’s sustained strategy of exiling or imprisoning dissenting artists must end, Nando OBDC must be released, and freedom of expression must prevail.”
The Cuban government’s sustained strategy of exiling or imprisoning dissenting artists must end, Nando OBDC must be released, and free expression must prevail.
Almenares remains imprisoned in the Cuba-Panama prison in Güines, Mayabeque, a facility for inmates with HIV, although he does not suffer from that disease, but rather from sickle cell anemia—a genetic disorder that causes anemia—according to his mother. Last July, he staged a hunger strike to protest his situation. His mother has also reported restrictions on communication with the artist and his deteriorating emotional and physical health.
The criminal offense of “propaganda against the institutional order,” incorporated into the 2022 Penal Code, penalizes any critical expression that the State considers “incitement against the social order or the socialist State”, without precisely defining what acts constitute that crime, which makes it a legal instrument to persecute dissent.
CTDC warned this Friday about a “brutal beating” suffered by the historic political prisoner Félix Navarro Rodríguez, 72.
The Cuban regime’s repression of dissidents continues to intensify amid the current crisis on the island, with violence against political prisoners within the prison system. The Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC) reported on Friday a “brutal beating” suffered by long-time political prisoner Félix Navarro Rodríguez, 72, in the Agüica maximum-security prison in Matanzas, and warned that his life could be in danger due to his fragile health.
The organization held State Security and prison authorities responsible for the attack and any resulting consequences, and denounced that, following the attack, Navarro was transferred to solitary confinement, which worsens his situation. It also demanded his immediate release and guarantees for his physical safety, while calling on the international community to take urgent action.
The case was reported to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) by the Cuba Decide Complaints Center, which filed an urgent appeal regarding the events, as reported by Martí Noticias. According to Juan Carlos Vargas, director of Cuba Decide, the attack occurred on April 9, after a family visit, when the opposition member was intercepted by prison officials, handcuffed, and beaten while defenseless.
Félix Navarro, vice president of the CTDC and recipient of the 2024 Patmos Award, is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence for his participation in the Island-wide 11 July 2021 [’11J’] protests. In 2003, he was among the 75 opposition members and independent journalists convicted during the Black Spring. His daughter, Sayli Navarro, a member of the Ladies in White, is also serving a politically motivated sentence.
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