During his time in prison, his mother denounced the deterioration of his health and the lack of medical care.
14ymedio, Madrid, July 27, 2026 – Kevin Damián Frómeta Castro, who was convicted for his involvement in the massive protests that took place on 11 July 2021, was released this weekend after serving his entire five-year sentence. “He leaves with his release papers after completing his sentence to the very last day. The wait is over,” his mother, Caridad Castro, wrote on social media, illustrating the post with photographs showing the young man alongside her.
In her message, the woman thanked her relatives and loved ones who remained attentive during the five years her son was imprisoned; those who “were present and followed” his case on social media and in the press; and even “those who distanced themselves,” because “pain reveals people’s hearts beyond their faces.” She also asked that they allow the young man a few days of “privacy” to enjoy “his family, his freedom, and peace.”
Frómeta Castro is one of more than 30 people convicted for their participation in the July 11 protests at the Toyo intersection in Havana, where an overturned police patrol car became a symbol of that day’s demonstrations. He was arrested at the age of 19 and sentenced by the People’s Supreme Court (TSP) to five years of “deprivation of liberty replaced by an equal term of correctional labor with confinement,” after his previous 16-year prison sentence imposed by the Municipal Court was reduced.
Kevin Frómeta is one of more than 30 people convicted for their participation in the July 11 protests at the Toyo intersection in Havana, where an overturned police patrol car became a symbol of the demonstrations
His mother, Caridad Castro, denounced throughout her son’s five years in prison the poor conditions in which he was being held and the progressive deterioration of his health. In recent months, she had warned about the lack of medical care for an infection Frómeta suffered after complications from surgery. Castro then suggested that the refusal to provide him with medical treatment could be retaliation for the hunger strike her son carried out in March, when he went nine days without eating to demand medical care.
According to various independent organizations, such as Cubalex, more than 1,300 people were detained or prosecuted over the July 11 protests. Of those, Human Rights Watch says that more than 300 remain imprisoned. According to Cuba Archive, seven of the individuals identified as political prisoners have died in custody, while one person was killed by police gunfire during the demonstrations.
More than 30 imprisoned protesters are completing their sentences this July, having received five-year terms for offenses related to their participation in the protests. On July 12, Aníbal Yasiel Palau Jacinto was also released after completing five years in prison. Just one week ago, artist and opposition activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was released after fully serving his sentence and was forced into exile in Miami under a parole approved by the United States. Otero Alcántara’s case adds to other reports of pressure on political prisoners to leave the Island in exchange for their release.
More than 30 imprisoned protesters are completing their sentences this July, having received five-year terms for offenses related to their participation in the protests
Another July 11 protester who is also reportedly being pressured by the Cuban authorities to accept exile is Yosvany Rosell García Caso, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for demonstrating in Holguín, according to a video posted by his wife in which she said Rosell firmly refuses to leave the country.
Last Tuesday, it also became known that the U.S. approved a parole for rapper and political prisoner Maykel Castillo Osorbo, co-author of the song Patria y Vida, considered an anthem of the opposition. Castillo was arrested two months before July 11 and sentenced to nine years in prison. It is expected that the regime will follow the same course with Osorbo as it did with Alcántara and grant him release in exchange for exile.
Meanwhile, other July 11 prisoners continue to report abuses in prison. One of the most recent cases is that of José Ramón Solano Randiche, imprisoned for the crime of sedition following his participation in the July 11, 2021 demonstrations, who has remained on a hunger strike since July 14 after authorities canceled a temporary leave permit that would have allowed him to attend his son’s birthday. As confirmed this Sunday by his wife, Liuba María Gallo, to Martí Noticias, Solano remains on a voluntary hunger strike in the medical ward of Holguín Provincial Prison.
As of today, the NGO Prisoners Defenders reports 1,312 political prisoners on the Island.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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