He was arrested for “propaganda against the constitutional order,” but the Prosecutor’s Office substituted the crime for “resisting arrest.”
14ymedio, Pablo Padilla Cruz, Matanzas, August 22, 2025 — Matanzas resident Pavel Torres Rodríguez was released last Tuesday, October 21, after spending a year in the Combinado del Sur prison, initially accused of “propaganda against the constitutional order.” His release came after a change of sentence in which the Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the original case and replaced it with a new, fabricated crime: “resisting arrest,” punishable by up to one year in prison, exactly the same amount of time the activist had already served.
“I was always seen as an instigator of public disorder,” Torres told 14ymedio. “State Security tried to link me to dissident figures and groups inside and outside of Cuba. They mentioned names like Dr. Alina Hernández, José Daniel Ferrer, and UNPACU (the Patriotic Union of Cuba). I responded that I admire those Cubans, that they influence my critical thinking, but I’m not affiliated with any political party.”
The only “crime” committed by this resident of the Versalles neighborhood in Matanzas was to speak out fearlessly , openly criticizing the country’s economic situation and the performance of its leaders, whom he accused of having forgotten the people. He also didn’t hesitate to call them “thieves” in his social media posts.
“I went from a normal life with my family to being confined to a breeding ground for bedbugs and disease.”
On October 11, 2024, after “letting loose with a barbarity” in the doorway of his house, following a power outage—according to Margarita Rodríguez, his mother—a patrol car arrived and took him into custody. “The rest is history,” the woman added, “two weeks in the Técnico and since then in Combinado del Sur.”
Until then, Torres had been working at a neighborhood guarapera [sugarcane juice stand] and was fond of underwater fishing, but two years ago he suffered a heart attack that left him with lasting effects. “I’m afraid for him,” Margarita confessed, “because I’ve heard rumors of prisoners who have died at Combinado del Sur. I’ve already lost a daughter to COVID-19; I couldn’t bear to lose another child.”
During his incarceration, he lived with common-law prisoners in conditions he described as “inhumane.” “I went from a normal life with my family to being confined in a breeding ground for bedbugs and disease,” he recalls. “Despite everything, I tried to remain calm. Some prisoners ended up being like family to me.”
“The hardest part of unjust imprisonment isn’t getting there, but surviving the cycle of new difficulties that begins from day one,” the Matanzas native confesses. He was overwhelmed by the uncertainty of not knowing where his criminal proceedings would lead, even though he hadn’t committed a crime, “at the mercy of a situation, real or fabricated by the authorities,” that would jeopardize both his physical and emotional safety.
“I know they can invent a new cause and repeat the cycle.”
Torres asserts that his faith in God was what kept him steadfast during the months of confinement. “I will continue to think freely, without inciting violence, but being critical of the country’s path,” he tells this newspaper. “Even though a semi-illiterate officer can destroy your life with a signature, I believe the day will come when that same oppressive power will have the opportunity to redeem itself in a Cuba for all and for the good of all, as the Apostle [José Martí] said.”
Despite his release, the 46-year-old Matanzas native considers himself on “conditional release.” Both he and his family fear continued surveillance by State Security agencies, often carried out by neighbors sympathetic to the regime. “I know they can invent a new case and repeat the cycle,” he warns.
With uncertainty as his companion, Torres Rodríguez says he walks “with God, his homeland, and freedom in his heart,” determined to continue being useful on the path toward a more just Cuba.
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