Political Prisoner Ana Ibis Tristá Reports Severe Health Decline from Jail as Regime Denies Medical Care

Political prisoner Ana Ibis Tristá Padilla has raised alarms about her deteriorating health condition from within the women's prison in Las Tunas. Her distressing message was shared on Wednesday by the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH), which is demanding urgent medical intervention and her immediate release.

In a letter penned from the facility known as La Veguita, Tristá Padilla detailed her struggle with three serious health issues: anorexia, chronic asthma, and renal failure, which have left her in a constant state of imbalance.

"I manage my anorexia thanks to the immense support from you. However, my chronic asthma and kidney failure significantly affect me, leaving me generally unbalanced," expressed the 37-year-old activist in her letter.

Health Issues and Lack of Care

To prevent kidney collapse, she must take furosemide regularly, yet the prolonged use of this diuretic has caused her leg muscles to harden and her tendons to suffer, as she explains.

"I can barely walk and experience daily pain, but I cannot stop taking it, or my kidneys will fail," she stated.

Cuban authorities have yet to publicly address her health concerns or the OCDH's request for medical attention.

Judicial Injustices

This is not the first warning about her condition. The OCDH had previously reported on her critical health status in April, citing kidney issues, extreme weakness, fainting from minimal exertion, and bone and joint pain linked to malnutrition and lack of medical care.

Ana Ibis's legal history also sheds light on the workings of the justice system under the dictatorship. She was arrested in November 2023, accused of organizing a peaceful protest that never took place, displaying political banners, and planning to launch Molotov cocktails.

Initially acquitted due to insufficient evidence in November 2024, the prosecutor appealed, and the Supreme Court overturned the acquittal, ordering a retrial in a different province. In this second trial, Tristá Padilla was sentenced to 14 years for "propaganda against the constitutional order" and "other acts against state security," while her co-defendant, Jarol Varona Agüero, received a 13-year sentence. The Supreme Court upheld these sentences in August, leaving no more avenues for appeal.

Broader Patterns of Repression

The OCDH condemned the trial as "a political operation masked as a judicial process," highlighting that it was based entirely on intelligence and counterintelligence reports from the Ministry of the Interior, entities directly involved in repression.

Ana Ibis's case is intertwined with that of her husband, Damián de Jesús Hechavarría Labrada, also a political prisoner. He was sentenced to five years in 2021 for shouting "Down with the dictatorship! Homeland and Life!" during one of the first documented instances with this slogan before the events of July 11. Ana Ibis then became a vocal advocate for political prisoners, drawing the regime's ire.

Her plight exemplifies a wider pattern of medical neglect in Cuban prisons. According to Prisoners Defenders, by the end of August 2026, Cuba recorded a historical high of 1,339 political prisoners, with 463 suffering from severe medical conditions.

The broader repressive environment persists unchecked: the OCDH documented over 3,000 repressive actions from January to September, with 344 occurring in September alone, a rate already surpassing the total for 2025.

"It has been a disastrous month for freedom of expression and independent journalism. The regime, amid its unpopularity, seeks to impose a veil of silence, and unfortunately, we fear the situation may worsen," warned Yaxys Cires, OCDH’s Director of Strategies.