While Cuban regime diplomats staged a protest against human rights activists at the United Nations headquarters on Monday, José Daniel Ferrer released a video from a Holguín prison showing an inmate covered in skin lesions, allegedly due to bedbug bites, and lamenting the lack of medication to treat them.
The opposition leader shared the footage on Facebook, explaining that it was recorded about a month ago in Holguín's Provisional Prison. He highlighted the severe unsanitary conditions and inadequate medical care faced by inmates there.
"The horrific situation endured by both political and common prisoners in Cuba. This video was captured a month ago in Holguín's Provisional Prison. Thousands of inmates in Cuba are in similar conditions," Ferrer wrote alongside the video.
The footage reveals a man displaying various parts of his body, marked with sores and lesions attributed to bedbugs. As the camera pans over his skin, another voice urges that these images be shared with the world.
"Look at the conditions the prisoners are in here, look at the bedbug bites, all caused by the bedbugs. For the world to see," is heard at the start of the video.
Another voice stresses, "See how the inmates are living here. Look at the bedbug bites, that's from the bedbugs, folks. Look here, there are no medicines, there's nothing."
At one point, the person holding the camera asks the inmate to show more affected areas, documenting the dire situation.
"Look, folks, so you can see, so the world can witness the conditions of these prisoners," the voice repeats.
One of the most alarming moments comes when the inmate himself states that despite daily assurances, the requested medications never arrive.
"Tell them we don't get the medications, that they're deceiving us every day," the man declares, asserting they are continually told to wait until the next day, only to be left without the needed drugs.
After the initial footage, Ferrer broadens the scope of his denunciation regarding the state of Cuban prisons.
"In the prisons of the Castro-communist tyranny, thousands of common prisoners and hundreds of political detainees have to contend with infestations of bedbugs, mosquitoes, and rodents," the opposition leader asserts.
Ferrer claims inmates also suffer from hunger, malnutrition, violence, physical and psychological torture, and are often placed in solitary confinement.
He additionally warns of the risk of contracting tuberculosis, scabies, and other infectious diseases, exacerbated by consuming contaminated water.
"Most prisons lack potable water, and in many, water is extremely scarce. Poor hygiene affects the majority of inmates. The unsanitary conditions threaten their health," he states.
Ferrer also mentions parasitic diseases such as amebiasis and giardiasis, alongside diarrheal outbreaks linked to poor sanitary conditions.
"In short, the prisons under the Castro-communist regime are a true hell on earth," Ferrer concludes.
The publication coincides with a day of verbal confrontations at the United Nations, where Cuban regime representatives protested an event organized by the U.S. Permanent Mission to address human rights issues on the island.
On Monday, Cuban diplomats confronted activists during the "Cuba Libre: The Oppression That Havana Hides" event at the international body's headquarters in New York.
According to Ferrer, who attended the event, regime representatives interrupted with shouts of "terrorists" and "get out of the UN" aimed at those presenting evidence of political prisoners, forced labor, and corruption in Cuba.
The event also featured artist and activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who was released and forced to leave Cuba on July 18, 2026, after five years of imprisonment, and Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat from the Cuban Democratic Directorate.
The incident followed public criticism by Cuba's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, who denounced the meeting as a political maneuver against his government.
"Cuba will not be intimidated, blackmailed, or silenced," the diplomat declared, asserting that the event was part of Washington's campaign against Cuban sovereignty.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, responded to Soberón's criticisms, defending the involvement of former political prisoners and experts documenting the regime's repressive practices.
In this context, the dissemination of the Holguín images offers a tangible dimension to the allegations being discussed in New York: the plight of incarcerated individuals who claim they live among infestations and lack timely access to medication.
FAQs on Human Rights Violations in Cuban Prisons
What are the conditions like in Holguín's Provisional Prison?
Inmates in Holguín's Provisional Prison reportedly face severe unsanitary conditions, with infestations of bedbugs, and lack adequate medical care and necessary medications.
Who is José Daniel Ferrer?
José Daniel Ferrer is an opposition leader in Cuba who actively denounces human rights abuses within Cuban prisons and has shared video evidence to support these allegations.
How did Cuban diplomats react to the UN event on human rights in Cuba?
Cuban diplomats disrupted the event by shouting accusations and attempting to silence activists and participants who were discussing human rights violations in Cuba.