The political prisoner has been in solitary confinement for five days, says Anamely Ramos.
14ymedio, Madrid, 24 June 2025 — Rapper Maykel Castillo ‘Osorbo’ has been on a hunger strike for five days and is isolated in a punishment cell at the Kilo 5.5 Provincial Prison in Pinar del Río, according to curator Anamelys Ramos. The activist, who serves as the political prisoner’s spokesperson, had announced the possibility last Friday, attributing it to “inmates in solidarity,” although she only confirmed the news on Monday, without specifying how.
“After two days without news, today we learned that Maykel is indeed on strike and has been isolated in a punishment cell for five days without food. We don’t know if the strike also includes thirst,” she stated on her Facebook account.
According to the curator, “what triggered this new crisis was that Maykel was suddenly removed from his company for disciplinary infraction and was threatened with being transferred to a prison in eastern Cuba. I don’t think it’s necessary to explain why we can’t allow Maykel to be sent more than 800 kilometers from his place of residence,” she said.
Ramos, who has emphasized that Osorbo should never have been imprisoned, points out that whatever happens is the responsibility of the authorities. “I know you believe you own not only the country but also the bodies of Cubans. I also know that you believe your power is irreversible. But there are plenty of examples that you are increasingly weaker and have fewer resources to stabilize a country that has already crossed the threshold of many deaths. I will only tell you that you are not prepared for Maykel’s death,” she warns. The activist urges people to share information to demand the rapper’s release.
“I know you believe you own not only the country but also the bodies of Cubans. I also know that you believe your power is irreversible. But there are plenty of examples that you are increasingly weak.”
Last Friday, Ramos had already reported the situation as practically certain, based on sources within the prison. At that time, she asserted that Osorbo was standing firm in the face of the threat of transfer.
“The fact that he’s more than 150 kilometers from his place of residence is cruel. And now they intend to send him almost ten times farther. And they expect this to happen without him or us doing anything. You’ve gone crazy,” she warned. “Nothing, except the desire to humiliate Maykel and make his life more difficult, justifies sending him there. Maykel knows full well why they’re doing it, and it’s precisely his survival instinct that drives him to stand his ground.”
Just two months ago, Osorbo was involved in a similar situation. It was at the end of April , when he was held in solitary confinement for five days after a confrontation with a State Security agent “during a routine visit that was suspended.” Ramos stated at the time that the official, like others on various occasions, had provoked the situation by trying to force a reaction that would justify the sanction.
“They’ve been insisting for months that Maykel is behaving badly. They want to convince those close to him, and everyone else, that what’s happening to Maykel, and therefore this punishment, is his fault,” she wrote. At the time, the curator warned that the political prisoner’s health could worsen, as he went into isolation with a virus.
“They’ve been insisting for months that Maykel is behaving badly. They want to convince those close to him, and everyone else, that what’s happening to Maykel, and therefore this punishment, is his fault.”
Osorbo, one of the authors of the song “Patria y Vida” (winner of two Latin Grammys), has been serving a nine-year prison sentence for contempt, assault, public disorder, and “defamation of institutions and organizations, heroes, and martyrs” since May 2022, although he had already spent 13 months in prison—since April 2021—which are being discounted from his sentence. In the same trial, artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was sentenced to five years.
Although the rapper has repeatedly expressed openness to the possibility of being released on the condition of forced exile, the option has not prospered. Nor was he released during the process agreed upon with the mediation of Pope Francis, through which more than 500 people, fewer than half of whom were political prisoners, were released, according to the government, “for the Jubilee Year.” Among those who benefited from that pact—which involved removing Cuba from the US blacklist of sponsors of terrorism for just the week Joe Biden remained in office—were Félix Navarro, José Daniel Ferrer, and Donaida Pérez, whose measures have since been revoked .
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.