Is it True There Are No Political Prisoners in Cuba?
From Raul Castro to Fernandez de Cossío: the same FALSE discourse persists to deny political prisoners and accuse Amnesty International.
HAVANA TIMES – Carlos Fernandez de Cossío, deputy head of Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex), denied in an interview with Zeteo News published on September 27, 2025, the existence of political prisoners, dismissed Amnesty International’s most recent annual report on Cuba, and accused the organization of being funded by “antisocialist entities.”
His statements reproduce a familiar discourse pattern of the Cuban regime: systematically denying human rights violations on the island, including imprisonment for political and conscience-related reasons and discrediting international organizations when they publish critical reports about the Cuban state.
Yes, there are political prisoners in Cuba
In the interview with British-US journalist and presenter Mehdi Hasan for Zeteo News (US), an online news platform, Fernandez de Cossío insisted that “there are no arbitrary arrests in Cuba” of government critics or participants in anti-government protests.
When Hasan mentioned Amnesty International’s 2024 Cuba report, published in 2025, the senior foreign ministry official challenged the journalist to provide a list of the “hundreds” detained for political reasons and claimed there was no evidence.
The Cuban government’s denial strategy is not new. In 2016, during then US President Barack Obama’s visit to Havana, Cuban leader Raul Castro reacted in a similar fashion at an international press conference: “Give me the list right now of political prisoners so I can release them.”
Yet, both then and now, there are lists and reports from human rights organizations documenting the existence of political prisoners in Cuba. El Toque, like other independent Cuban outlets, has frequently published over the last five years texts on rights violations against dissidents, activists, and citizens imprisoned for political reasons. Our coverage with news, complaints, legal analyses, and profiles of political prisoners can be consulted here.
In addition, recent prisoner releases confirm the existence of political prisoners on the island. In January 2025, several dozen prisoners were freed following negotiations with the Vatican and the Biden Administration’s decision to remove Cuba from the US government’s list of “State Sponsors of Terrorism.” Among them were some people convicted for participating in the July 11, 2021 protests.
These releases, documented by independent media and international organizations, contradict the official claim that there are no political prisoners in Cuba. Later, some of those released were rearrested under various pretexts, including prisoners of conscience and dissidents Donaida Perez Paseiro, Jose Daniel Ferrer, and Felix Navarro.
Reports contradicting Fernandez de Cossío’s statements: According to Amnesty International’s 2024 Report, arbitrary detentions and convictions against peaceful demonstrators persist in Cuba.
- Prisoners Defenders reported in September 2025 a “new record” of 1,185 political prisoners in Cuban jails.
- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has documented patterns of protest criminalization and judicial harassment on the island.
The deputy foreign minister’s claim is FALSE. Yes, there are political prisoners in Cuba, and their imprisonment has been documented with names, concrete cases, and international complaints.
The false narrative of denying political prisoners in Cuba is not exclusive to Raul Castro or Fernandez de Cossío but a recurring disinformation line by officials at different levels. Current ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel has repeatedly insisted in international forums and interviews with foreign media that on the island “there are no political prisoners, only people sanctioned for breaking the law.”
Johana Tablada—Minrex official, former Deputy Director for US Affairs, and recently appointed ambassador to Mexico—has also frequently defended this line in exchanges with the international press, reducing cases to alleged “common crimes.”
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez has likewise denied before multilateral organizations, such as the UN and the Human Rights Council, the existence of prisoners of conscience, dismissing reports from organizations like Amnesty International or the IACHR as “media campaigns against Cuba.”
Amnesty International neither lacks evidence nor is it funded by “antisocialist organizations”
In the interview, journalist Mehdi Hasan challenged Deputy Minister Fernandez de Cossío with references from Amnesty International’s 2024 Report, which documents restrictions on freedom of expression, arbitrary detentions, and criminalization of activists in Cuba.
“Social services were reduced and the population had difficulties accessing food and medicines. New restrictions on freedom of expression were imposed. Arbitrary detention and the criminalization of activists, human rights defenders, journalists, and demonstrators persisted. Detainees were subjected to harassment and mistreatment. Discrimination against women, Afro-descendants, and LGBTI people continued,” Amnesty denounced in the cited report.
In response, Fernandez de Cossío said: “Have they given you any evidence of that? (…) Amnesty International has been saying that for years… There is no evidence of that.”
He went further: “Who funds Amnesty International? Organizations that oppose socialism. So naturally, structurally, and by order they will go against anything socialist.”
Facts vs. his claims:
- Yes, there is documented evidence.
Amnesty International’s 2024 Cuba Report includes over 30 pages of specific cases, names, and judicial proceedings. - Other independent entities such as the international NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) have also corroborated patterns of repression and criminalization of protest in Cuba.
- Amnesty International is not funded by “antisocialist organizations.”
Amnesty International is an independent NGO, founded in 1961 and headquartered in London, UK. Its statutes forbid accepting funds from governments or political parties to avoid conflicts of interest.
“We are financed by our membership. We are independent of all political ideologies, economic interests, and religions. We stand with victims of human rights violations, whoever and wherever they are. No government is above scrutiny. We bring the truth to light. We demand accountability from those who violate human rights,” the organization details on its official website.
- Its reports are not biased toward Cuba or other “socialist” countries. Amnesty International has also denounced human rights violations in the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Russia, among other nations with diverse political systems.
The Cuban government also keeps its prisons closed to independent monitoring. Amnesty International is barred from entering the island’s jails, as are other international bodies like the Red Cross and UN experts. This lack of access reinforces the opaque nature of the Cuban prison system and hinders independent verification of prison conditions and the treatment of political detainees.
The attempt to deny the existence of political prisoners and to discredit international organizations cannot withstand the accumulated evidence of years. Documented reports, lists, and prisoner releases demonstrate that this is a systematic pattern of repression and concealment. The repetition of the official discourse—from Raúl Castro to Fernández de Cossío and other officials—does not erase reality: there are political prisoners in Cuba, and the international community has consistently confirmed it.
First published in Spanish by El Toque and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.