Free Cuba Now!

 

CubaBrief: Cuba’s Freedom as Catalyst for Latin America’s Democratic Renaissance

 

Entrenched Authoritarianism: Cuba as Archetype and Exporter

Cuba stands as Latin America’s longest-running dictatorship—over 67 years under the same system—with no free national elections since 1950. The regime has perfected a kleptocratic model:  a system ruled by people who use their power to steal their country’s resources. Furthermore communist central planning has collapsed the economy (importing 80% of food while elites control billions in cash reserves), criminalized dissent through an expanded penal code, and turned humanitarian aid into a tool of control via government-linked entities.

Over 1,200 political prisoners remain jailed, including for nonviolent protest or online dissent; the 2021 island-wide protests were met with lethal force by the Cuban government. This repression continues unabated. There is a petition underway requesting prioritizing their release.

On April 8, 2026, prisoner of conscience Félix Navarro, age 72, was beaten and placed in isolation after his scheduled family visit, according to his wife, Sonia Álvarez. Immediately after leaving the visiting area, prison officer Norlen Pedroso Sotolongo verbally abused him and ordered an intrusive search of all his belongings. As Navarro was taken toward the infirmary, he was beaten, handcuffed, and transferred to a punishment cell on the officer’s orders. He sustained contusions and remains in isolation. Already in poor health, Navarro’s life and physical integrity are now at serious risk.

Placing Cuba into a hemispheric context

When Augusto Pinochet was forced out of office in Chile on March 11, 1990, the last remaining dictatorship in the Americas was the Castro regime in Cuba. Political turmoil in Haiti led some to place it alongside Cuba as a failed state between 1990 and 1995, but between 1995–2000 it was the only dictatorship that remained in the Americas. Efforts to engage with, and normalize the dictatorship by other Latin American nations did not improve Havana’s conduct, but saw others destabilized by the Cuban dictatorship.

 

Havana actively exports its model.

The cases of Venezuela and Nicaragua are cautionary examples. Cuban military and intelligence personnel have propped up Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela (with 32 documented casualties in regime protection operations as recently as January 2026) and supported Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.

The regime maintains alliances with Russia (supplying mercenaries for Ukraine), China (intelligence facilities), Iran, and transnational networks, creating a permissive environment for terrorism and instability that spills across the Western Hemisphere—fueling migration crises, drug flows, and threats to U.S. and regional security.
Havana’s “authoritarian nexus” undermines fragile democracies elsewhere while shielding its own repression.

 

Fragile Democratic Transitions and the Human Cost

Democracy in the region is under strain precisely because these regimes have dismantled checks and balances, monopolized power, and restricted freedoms.

Cuban opposition networks show the other side: courageous citizens and reformers actively contest this. Non-violent initiatives like the Varela Project, independent journalists, and informal opposition coordination demonstrate that even in the most entrenched cases, the human spirit for freedom persists.

The challenge is the asymmetry—regimes use violence, infiltration, and external patrons, while democrats rely on moral authority, international solidarity, and internal unity. Widespread poverty, food scarcity, and blackouts are regime-made, not sanctions-driven, as centralized control and corruption have devastated Cuban production since 1959. Independent aid channels (e.g., via Caritas) succeed where regime-controlled ones fail, underscoring the need to bypass GONGOs.

Pathways for Renewal: Non-Violent Transition with Conditioned Support

Genuine democratic renewal requires political change first—not the reverse “China model” of economic opening without liberty. Economic liberalization follows accountable institutions; premature engagement only entrenches the kleptocracy.
Practical pathways include:

• Internal non-violent mobilization: Unite Cuba’s opposition (internal and in exile) through coordinated advocacy, non-violent resistance training, documentation of abuses for future justice commissions, and preparation for a “Liberation Phase” leading to free and fair elections. The recent “Liberation Accord” among groups signals momentum toward this.
• International leverage with clear benchmarks: Targeted sanctions must remain and expand (Magnitsky-style on repressors), conditioned on verifiable steps—unconditional release of all political prisoners (including immediate medical attention and release for cases like Félix Navarro), International Red Cross prison access, legalization of political parties and independent unions, withdrawal of Cuban military/intelligence from Venezuela and Nicaragua, closure of foreign intelligence facilities, surrender of fugitives/terrorists, and a timeline for competitive elections.
• Humanitarian and diplomatic realism: Establish independent aid corridors with UN spot-checks; amplify dissident voices globally; reject dialogue that legitimizes the regime without addressing the Cuban people’s sovereignty. Conversations between governments may serve national-security interests, but true transition demands dialogue between the dictatorship and the Cuban people.
• Regional and hemispheric solidarity: Link Cuba’s case to Venezuela and Nicaragua—demanding the authoritarian nexus be dismantled—as part of broader support for democratic renewal. Democrats must continue to use their shared experiences of repression to forge cross-border strategies.

While authoritarianism appears entrenched, it is brittle—exposed by economic failure, popular rejection, and courageous contestation. Renewal lies in empowering citizens through non-violence, insisting on political preconditions for any engagement, and sustaining principled international pressure.

Democracy is being reimagined not by top-down deals, but by the bottom-up determination of those risking everything for freedom.

The path to lasting freedom and democratic renewal across Latin America passes through a free Cuba, which will serve as the catalyst for a genuine democratic renaissance and consolidation throughout the region.

 

Interested in learning more? Then register here and join the NED Panel on Freedom and Democratic Renewal in Latin America on Monday, April 13, at 4:00 p.m. EST in person or virtually.

 

 

 

 

 

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Center for a Free Cuba 417 West Broad Street, Suite 204 Falls Church, VA 22046

Free Cuba Now!

Over 1,200 Political Prisoners Remain in Cuban Jails Despite Regime’s Mass Release Claims. CFC Launches Petition Drive Demanding Their Freedom.

 

In early April 2026, the Cuban dictatorship announced the pardon and release of over 2,010 prisoners, presenting it as a “humanitarian and sovereign gesture.”

 

Independent verification by families, Prisoners Defenders, Cubalex, and the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights reveals the overwhelming majority were common criminals.

 

More than 1,200 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience—men and women jailed solely for exercising their rights to free expression, peaceful assembly, and protest—remain behind bars.

 

These prisoners of conscience endure inhumane conditions: prolonged solitary confinement, denial of medical care, torture, malnutrition, contaminated water, and filthy cells.

 

Their families are subjected to harassment and surveillance.

 

Havana has refused the International Committee of the Red Cross access to its prisons since 1989.

 

Representative cases highlighted in the petition illustrate the regime’s cruelty: artist and San Isidro Movement leader Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, imprisoned since July 2021 for nonviolent artistic activism and now on hunger strike amid death threats; Grammy-winning musician Maykel Castillo Pérez (“Maykel Osorbo”), co-author of the protest anthem “Patria y Vida”; veteran opposition leader Félix Navarro Rodríguez, founder of the Pedro Luis Boitel Party for Democracy, re-arrested in April 2025 and held in prolonged isolation; Sayli Navarro Álvarez, imprisoned for her human rights defense work and nonviolent dissent; president of the Free Yoruba Association Donaida Pérez Paseiro, re-arrested in May 2025 for her advocacy on behalf of religious and political freedoms; recognized prisoner of conscience Loreto Hernández García, detained for nonviolent opposition activities with reports of deteriorating health and denial of medical care; Alexander Díaz Rodríguez, imprisoned for exercising freedom of expression and assembly and diagnosed with thyroid cancer since 2022 without proper medical treatment; opposition figure Jaime Alcide Firdó, re-arrested in April 2025 amid the regime’s crackdown on dissidents; Rolando Yusef Pérez Morera, opposition activist and one of the leaders of the 11J protests, suffering from severe malnutrition without medical attention; and independent journalist José Gabriel Barrenechea, jailed for participating in a peaceful street protest during a blackout.

These are not isolated cases—they represent over a thousand voices the Cuban dictatorship seeks to silence.

 

The Center has launched a petition drive on Change.org: “Urgent Request to Prioritize the Release of Cuban Political Prisoners.” The petition calls on the United States, the Holy See, the European Union, and Canada to use their influence to secure the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, grant full and immediate access to Cuban prisons for the International Committee of the Red Cross and other independent monitors, and end the criminalization of peaceful dissent.

 

Please sign the petition today at https://www.change.org/FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners and share it with your family, friends, and networks. The time for action is now.

 

Every signature strengthens the global demand for justice and brings closer the day when Cuba’s political prisoners walk free. Where is the outrage? Let us stand together in solidarity with Cuba’s prisoners of conscience. Their freedom is Cuba’s freedom.

 

 

 

 

 

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Center for a Free Cuba 417 West Broad Street, Suite 204 Falls Church, VA 22046

Is the United States a Despotic Democracy?

the AZEL PERSPECTIVE Commentary on Cuba's Future, U.S. Foreign Policy & Individual Freedoms - Issue 455 B

José Azel's latest books "On Freedom" and "Sobre La Libertad" are now available on Amazon. Is the United States a Despotic Democracy? (Previously published) Share Tweet Forward

The idea of democratic despotism appears to be an oxymoron - a contradiction in terms. But, in “Democracy in America” (1835-1840) Alexis de Tocqueville offered a powerful description of democratic despotism as “...a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. Under Tocqueville’s democratic or soft despotism, “The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting.” Democratic despotism “...does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flow of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.” Soft despotism is not as obvious as hard despotism. It gives us the illusion of being in control; it degrades us rather than persecutes us. It often takes the form of a state within a state (imperium in imperio) where an internal organization, such as the armed forces, securities agencies or administrative agencies, evolves beyond the effective control of the civilian political leadership. For example, historically efforts to separate Church and State were anchored on the perception that the Church could turn into an imperium in imperio undermining civilian leadership. In other examples, in the Soviet Union, the secret policy (KGB) was considered a State within a State. The same is true of its successor, The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB). And, in the United States the government’s bureaucracy is often portrayed as a modern day example of an imperium in imperio. The modern definition of bureaucracies comes from German sociologist Max Weber who, in the 1920’s, defined bureaucracies as any system of administration conducted by trained professionals according to fix rules. And, although Weber considered bureaucracies necessary in a modern world, he also warned that bureaucratization was a threat to individual freedoms where individuals would be trap in a soulless “iron cage” of rule-based controls. Bureaucracies are also characterized by unrelenting growth. In the United States, the original bureaucracy of the Federal Government consisted of only the employees of three small departments; State, Treasury and War. Today the Federal Branch employs nearly 3 million people. The old Soviet KGB employed one officer for every 428 citizens. In today’s “freer” Russia the FSB employs one officer for every 297 citizens. Tocqueville forewarned, back in 1835, of a degrading despotic democracy of “small complicated rules”; imagine what he would say today. During the last few years of the George W. Bush administration regulations increased dramatically, and in the first seven years of the Obama Administration over 20,600 new regulations were added for an estimated regulatory cost burden in excess of $100 billion annually. Conceptually, government regulations represent a way for people to give up managing their own affairs and turn those affairs over to a government agency. According to Tocqueville, a byproduct of turning over the management of our affairs to a government institution is that we become incompetent to choose good leaders. Thus, government regulations would ruin the American experiment by combining the vices of those who govern with the weaknesses of the governed. This regulatory paternalism embodies the philosophy that people cannot be trusted to make good decisions, requiring government to impose its judgement over the voluntary decisions that represent our needs and preferences. Yes, some regulations are necessary and inherent to the rule of law. Regulations to protect children and those unable to make reasonable judgements are essential. But regulatory policy should be viewed with extraordinary suspicion and used frugally. Fortunately, we seem to have finally understood that the soft despotism of regulations undermines the very concept of personal responsibility. In January 2017, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order requiring government agencies to slash two regulations for every new regulation put in place. The President has now reported a success ratio of 22 regulations eliminated for every new one enacted. The measure is being touted as an economic success. It is much more than that. It is a restoration of personal freedoms. Please let us know if you  this article. We welcome your feedback. Abrazos, Lily & José (click on the name to email Lily or Jose) José Azel, Ph.D. José Azel left Cuba in 1961 as a 13 year-old political exile in what has been dubbed Operation Pedro Pan - the largest unaccompanied child refugee movement in the history of the Western Hemisphere.   He is currently dedicated to the in-depth analyses of Cuba's economic, social and political state, with a keen interest in post-Castro-Cuba strategies. Dr. Azel was a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS) at the University of Miami, Jose Azel has published extensively on Cuba related topics. In 2012 and 2015, Dr. Azel testified in the U.S. Congress on U.S.-Cuba Policy, and U.S. National Security.  He is a frequent speaker and commentator on these and related topics on local, national and international media.  He holds undergraduate and masters degrees in business administration and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the University of Miami. José along with his wife Lily are avid skiers and adventure travelers.  In recent years they have climbed Grand Teton in Wyoming, trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Machu Pichu in Peru.  They have also hiked in Tibet and in the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp. They cycled St. James Way (El Camino de Santiago de Compostela) and cycled alongside the Danube from Germany to Hungary and throughout southern France.  They have scuba dived in the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast and in the Galapagos Islands. Most recently, they rafted for 17 days 220 miles in the Grand Canyon. Their adventurers are normally dedicated to raise funds for causes that are dear to them.  Watch Joe & Lily summit Kilimanjaro. Books by Dr. José Azel José Azel’s writings are touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone who wishes to understand why countries do, or do not, progress will find in this book the best explanations. And, from these readings emerge numerous inferences: How and why do the good intentions of leftist collectivism lead countries to hell? Why is liberty not a sub product of prosperity, but rather one of its causes? If it was in my power, this work would be required reading for all college and university students, and I would also recommend its reading to all politicians, journalists, and policymakers. With his writings Azel accomplishes what was achieved in France by Frédéric Bastiat, and in the United States by Henry Hazlitt: Azel brings together common sense with intelligent observation, and academic substance. Stupendous, Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                                    BUY NOW Los escritos de José Azel están tocados por la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquiera que desee entender por qué los países progresan, o no, encontrará en este libro las mejores explicaciones. De estas lecturas surgen numerosas inferencias: ¿Cómo y por qué las buenas intenciones del colectivismo de izquierda llevan a los países al infierno? ¿Por qué la libertad no es un subproducto de la prosperidad, sino una de sus causas? Si estuviera en mis manos, esta obra sería de obligada lectura de todos los estudiantes universitarios, pero además, le recomendaría su lectura a todos los políticos, periodistas y policy makers. Con sus escritos Azel logra lo que Frédéric Bastiat consiguiera en Francia y Henry Hazlitt en Estados Unidos: aunar el sentido común, la observación inteligente y la enjundia académica. Estupendo. Carlos Alberto Montaner                                                            Compre Aqui "Liberty for beginners is much more than what the title promises. It is eighty themes touched with the wisdom of a master, and the charm of an excellent communicator. Anyone that wishes to understand why countries do, or do not progress, will find in this book the best explanations. Stupendous" Carlos Alberto Montaner Buy Now "Libertad para novatos es mucho más de lo que promete el título. Son ochenta temas tocados con la sabiduría de un maestro y la amenidad de un excelente comunicador. Cualquier adulto que desee saber por qué progresan o se estancan los pueblos aquí encontrará las mejores explicaciones. Estupendo." Carlos Alberto Montaner Compre Aqui In Reflections on Freedom, José Azel brings together a collection of his columns published in prestigious newspapers.  Each article reveals his heartfelt and personal awareness of the importance of freedom in our lives.  They are his reflections after nearly sixty years of living and learning as a Cuban outside Cuba. In what has become his stylistic trademark, Professor Azel brilliantly introduces complex topics in brief journalistic articles. Buy Now En Reflexiones sobre la libertad José Azel reúne una colección de sus columnas publicadas en prestigiosos periódicos. Cada artículo revela su percepción sincera y personal de la importancia de la libertad en nuestras vidas. Son sus reflexiones después de casi sesenta años viviendo y aprendiendo como cubano fuera de Cuba.  En lo que ha resultado ser característica distintiva de sus artículos, el Profesor Azel introduce con brillantez complejos temas en  breves artículos de carácter periodístico. Compre Aqui Mañana in Cuba is a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Cuba with an incisive perspective of the Cuban frame of mind and its relevancy for Cuba's future. Buy now Pedazos y Vacíos is a collection of poems written in by Dr. Azel in his youth. Poems are in Spanish. Buy now

Political Prisoners Face Death Threats and Arbitrary Detention.

Political Prisoners Face Death Threats and Arbitrary Detention.

 Evangelicals’ teenage son unjustly jailed. Protests spreading in Cuba.

 

Death threats against political prisoners by prison officials, and the arbitrary detention of prisoner of conscience Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara

Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara

Artist and San Isidro Movement co-founder Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, imprisoned since July 11, 2021, for “outrage against national symbols,” began a daily 12-hour fast (6:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.) on March 27, 2026. He and fellow political prisoners Daniel Alfaro Frías and Jorge Ayala face explicit death threats from Department 21 State Security agents and provincial prison chief Javier Reboso during a March 21, 2026 prison cell inspection at Guanajay maximum-security prison (Artemisa).

Agents told Luis Manuel they would “kill you here” with the same AKM rifles he had mentioned in a debate about the regime’s military capacity.

“They were provoking Alcántara… they got into an argument and threatened to come kill him with an AKM. They said this was because Alcántara had asked them if they really thought they could repel an attack from any other country using just four AKMs,” explained Alfaro. Faced with this challenge from the artist regarding their military capabilities, the officers responded directly: “We one of those very same AKMs you mentioned—we’ll come here, but we will kill you right here.”
Alfaro was warned that any U.S. intervention would result in prisoners being killed first. Cubalex’s habeas corpus petition—arguing Otero had already served his five-year sentence through provisional detention and good-behavior credit—was rejected on March 23, 2026. Otero’s health is already critical (he is suffering from chikungunya, herpes, parasites, and other infections) and Luis Manuel receives inadequate medical care.

Case of Jonathan Muir Burgos (age 16)teenage son of evangelical Pastor Elier Muir Ávila

Jonathan Muir Burgos

The teenage son of evangelical Pastor Elier Muir Ávila was detained March 16 after he and his father answered a police summons in Morón. The father was released the same day, but Jonathan remains held at the Technical Investigations Department (DTI) in Ciego de Ávila. His attorney filed for a change in precautionary measures, citing the minor’s chronic illnesses and fragile health, requesting house arrest pending trial.

A habeas corpus petition was rejected on March 25, 2026 The case is drawing international attention: U.S. Representatives María Elvira Salazar and Carlos Giménez, among others, have publicly demanded his immediate release. Pastor Mario Félix Lleonart of the Patmos Institute noted that prosecuting Jonathan would logically require trying “all the residents of Morón,” who joined the protests en masse.

A petition is circulating online demanding his release. Please sign and share with others.

Muir Burgos remains detained at the Technical Department of Investigations (DTI) in Ciego de Ávila, alongside 13 other protest participants, according to data compiled by Cubalex.

Yolanda Huerga, of Marti Noticias, reported this afternoon that a source familiar with the case had told them Jonathan Muir was being charged with “sabotage.”

The crime of sabotage—along with other severe charges—was also employed against attendees of the mass demonstrations on July 11, 2021, as part of a forceful penal response aimed at punishing participation in anti-government mobilizations.

Cuban Spring of Fire Protests: Placing the plight of Jonathan Muir and Luis Manuel in context to the rising tension and protests in Cuba

Cuba is experiencing a wave of anti-regime protests, dubbed the “Cuban Spring of Fire” by Journalist Yoe Suarez in The Washington Standard. Sparked by rising repression, chronic blackouts, food shortages, and water scarcity caused by regime decades long neglect of aging power plants. Nightly “cacerolazos” (pot-banging), street blockades, trash burnings, and anti-dictatorship graffiti have appeared in neighborhoods.

 

Cuban Protesters chant “Down with the dictatorship!”, “We are not afraid!”, and “Freedom!”

Some evangelical Christians have been present in the unrest. In Jaimanitas (Havana), independent journalist and Evangelical League member Yunia Figueredo was detained after leading a cacerolazo on March 10, 2026. Police smashed her phone in front of her young daughters.

An unnamed evangelical pastor in Havana’s Buenavista neighborhood allegedly took part in protests involving cacerolazos and burning trash. Trash is not being collected, is piling up, and residents are resorting to burning garbage to reduce the risk of epidemics. In Morón (Ciego de Ávila province), hundreds of residents marched in protest on March 13–14, 2026 surrounding the police station and Communist Party headquarters. The regime responded with a widespread crackdown.

These developments underscore Havana’s intensified repression against both civilian protesters and long-term political prisoners amid the ongoing and rising number and intensity of protests in the island. Human rights groups warn that political prisoners in Guanajay are in immediate danger. As of March 29, 2026 Jonathan Muir remains detained and Otero’s protest fast continues.

 

This July 11, 2026 will mark the five year anniversary of the island-wide protests that shook the dictatorship with demands of freedom, and an end to the dictatorship by hundreds of thousands of Cubans..  Those protests were nonviolent, and the Cuban dictatorship responded with deadly force.

 

 

 

 

 

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Center for a Free Cuba 417 West Broad Street, Suite 204 Falls Church, VA 22046 www.cubacenter.org