for participating in one of the massive protests of July 11, 2021

Kevin Frometa with his mother, Caridad Castro, after his release this Sunday. / Facebook/Caridad Castro Ruiz

During Kevin’s long imprisonment, his mother denounced the deterioration of his health and the lack of medical care.

By 14ymedio

HAVANA TIMES – Kevin Damian Frometa Castro, who was convicted for taking part in the massive July 11, 2021 protests, was released this weekend after serving his entire five-year prison sentence.

“He leaves with his release papers after completing his sentence to the very last day. The wait is over,” his mother, Caridad Castro, announced on social media, accompanying the post with photos of the young man beside her.

In her message, she thanked relatives and friends who supported her son throughout his five years in prison, those who “remained present and attentive” to 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 her son be given a few days of “privacy” to enjoy “his family, his freedom, and his peace.”

Kevin Frometa was one of more than 30 people convicted for participating in the July 11 demonstrations at the Toyo intersection in Havana, where an overturned police patrol car became one of the symbols of that day’s protests. He was arrested at age 19 and ultimately sentenced by Cuba’s Supreme Court to five years of imprisonment, after his original 16-year sentence imposed by the Municipal Court was reduced.

Throughout her son’s incarceration, Caridad Castro repeatedly denounced the poor conditions he endured and the steady deterioration of his health. In recent months, she warned that prison authorities had failed to provide medical treatment for an infection Kevin developed following complications from surgery. The mother suggested that the refusal to provide medical care may have been retaliation for the nine-day hunger strike her son carried out in March to demand treatment.

According to independent organizations such as Cubalex, more than 1,300 people were detained or prosecuted for participating in the July 11 protests. Human Rights Watch reports that more than 300 of them remain behind bars. Cuba Archive says that seven people identified as political prisoners have died in state custody, while one protester was killed by police gunfire during the demonstrations.

More than 30 people imprisoned in connection with the July 11 protests are completing their five-year sentences this July. On July 12, Anibal Yasiel Palau Jacinto was also released after serving five years in prison.

Just one week ago, artist and dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was released after completing his full sentence and was subsequently forced by the Cuban government into exile in Miami under a humanitarian parole approved by the United States. Otero’s case adds to a growing number of allegations that Cuban political prisoners are being pressured to leave the country in exchange for their release.

Another July 11 protester reportedly facing pressure from Cuban authorities to accept exile is Yosvany Rosell Garcia Caso, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for participating in protests in Holguin. In a video, his wife said Rosell firmly refuses to leave Cuba.

Last Tuesday, it was also reported that the United States approved humanitarian parole for rapper and political prisoner Maykel Castillo “Osorbo,” co-author of the song Patria y Vida, widely regarded as an anthem of the Cuban opposition. Castillo was arrested two months before the July 11 protests and sentenced to nine years in prison. Observers expect the Cuban government to follow the same course it took with Otero Alcántara by offering Osorbo release only in exchange for exile.

Meanwhile, other July 11 prisoners continue to report abuse in prison. One of the most recent cases is Jose Ramon Solano Randiche, imprisoned for sedition in connection with the July 11, 2021 demonstrations, who has remained on a hunger strike since July 14 after authorities revoked a temporary leave permit that would have allowed him to attend his son’s birthday. His wife, Liuba Maria Gallo, confirmed to Marti Noticias on Sunday that Solano remains on a voluntary hunger strike in the medical ward of Holguin Provincial Prison.

As of today, the NGO Prisoners Defenders reports that there are 1,312 political prisoners in Cuba.

First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.

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