The reporter had been detained in Encrucijada, one of the many places where protests took place after Hurricane Rafael.
14ymedio, Madrid, 21 March 2025 – With four months of prison served already, and awaiting trial for participating in the November 8 protests in Encrucijada, Villa Clara, journalist José Gabriel Barrenechea sent a despairing message this Friday. “After spending months in prison, and having only a long time left in prison as a hope, just for participating in a peaceful and apolitical demonstration, no one can ask me to feel anything positive for a political system, institutions, and a leadership that are ultimately responsible for this hell my life has been reduced to,” he told the independent newspaper CubaNet from La Pendiente prison.
He was transferred there on November 18 from the Santa Clara Police Investigation Unit, where he had been held incommunicado for several days. The reporter had been detained in Encrucijada, one of the many locations that saw protests following Hurricane Rafael and the subsequent collapse of the national electrical grid, resulting in Island-wide blackouts.
“It’s clear to me that a political system that is incapable of tolerating peaceful dissent and demands from the streets, when established channels have not worked, is neither fair nor represents a broad social consensus, and in reality, it is not strong either,” he also told CubaNet.
“As my statements and publications demonstrate, I have always staked everything on an evolution of the current political system, and on a rapprochement between Cuba and the US.”
He also stated: “I am not in favor of violent ’regime change.’ As my statements and publications demonstrate, I have always invested everything in an evolution of the current political system and in a rapprochement between Cuba and the United States.”
According to CubaNet, citing sources close to the family, Barrenechea’s 84-year-old mother is very ill and has been left to the mercy of friends. The journalist, her only son and family member, was the one who took care of her and did “practically everything” for her.
Along with Barrenechea, six other protesters were arrested. The journalist, who was scheduled to be prosecuted for “sedition” but will ultimately be tried for “public disorder,” also defended himself in his message to CubaNet: “My personal participation in that peaceful and apolitical protest (since the citizens were demanding electricity) consisted of being there, not banging on any pots and pans, and trying to maintain a peaceful and apolitical character.”
Several international organizations have denounced Barrenechea’s situation. He was on a hunger strike for the first 10 days of his detention, and his health is a source of concern to those closest to him. A family source told CubaNet that the journalist suffered from “extreme malnutrition, stomach and skin infections, and sleep disorders” and that “he has experienced states of anxiety and depression that aggravate his psychological stress.”
“My personal participation in that peaceful, apolitical protest consisted of being there, without banging on any pots and pans, and trying to maintain that peaceful, apolitical character.”
The Foundation for Pan-American Democracy (FDP) already emphasized that taking him to La Pendiente represented “a serious risk to his life,” and that it was a prison known for “its extremely overcrowded conditions and for housing all kinds of prisoners.”
Prisoners Defenders, for its part, has included him in some of its reports, highlighting that he remains without judicial protection and recalling the persecution he has suffered for years at the hands of State Security: “He is ‘regulated’ which means that he is prevented from leaving the country, he is denied the right to work, and his books are banned in Cuba.”
Currently, CubaNet reports, he receives family visits every two weeks. His lawyer requested a change in the measure due to his mother’s health condition, but it was denied.
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