Report says Cuba reached record number of political prisoners; activist Janet Pérez Quevedo to return to custody
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A report highlighted on Radio Martí’s Martí Noticias AM on Feb. 6 said Prisoner Defenders documented a historic total of 1,207 political prisoners in Cuba at the start of 2026, after verifying 18 new cases in January.
The broadcast summarized the group’s breakdown of detainees into categories and cited concerns about medical care and due‑process violations. The program said Prisoner Defenders flagged 463 detainees with serious medical conditions and 42 with untreated mental‑health disorders, and it described the use of digital surveillance and social‑media monitoring as mechanisms used in political prosecutions.
The show also carried direct remarks from Janet Pérez Quevedo, identified on air as a political prisoner who must return to Granja 5 in Camagüey after an extra‑penal license expired. Pérez Quevedo said she has faced constant surveillance and night detentions and said she lacks family members who can care for six of her seven children. "No tengo con quién dejar a mis niños," she said during the broadcast, adding that she will be allowed to keep her youngest child with her for the first year of the baby’s life but that the others will be placed in state institutions afterward.
The program placed the Prisoner Defenders findings in a broader context of international concern, noting NGOs and human‑rights groups have criticized recent prisoner‑release processes as opaque and inadequate. Radio Martí said organizations continue to call for immediate release of prisoners of conscience and for transparency in any early‑release or amnesty processes.
What happens next: the broadcast reported ongoing monitoring by rights groups and that Radio Martí intends to follow legal and human‑rights developments involving detainees and family circumstances.
The broadcast summarized the group’s breakdown of detainees into categories and cited concerns about medical care and due‑process violations. The program said Prisoner Defenders flagged 463 detainees with serious medical conditions and 42 with untreated mental‑health disorders, and it described the use of digital surveillance and social‑media monitoring as mechanisms used in political prosecutions.
The show also carried direct remarks from Janet Pérez Quevedo, identified on air as a political prisoner who must return to Granja 5 in Camagüey after an extra‑penal license expired. Pérez Quevedo said she has faced constant surveillance and night detentions and said she lacks family members who can care for six of her seven children. "No tengo con quién dejar a mis niños," she said during the broadcast, adding that she will be allowed to keep her youngest child with her for the first year of the baby’s life but that the others will be placed in state institutions afterward.
The program placed the Prisoner Defenders findings in a broader context of international concern, noting NGOs and human‑rights groups have criticized recent prisoner‑release processes as opaque and inadequate. Radio Martí said organizations continue to call for immediate release of prisoners of conscience and for transparency in any early‑release or amnesty processes.
What happens next: the broadcast reported ongoing monitoring by rights groups and that Radio Martí intends to follow legal and human‑rights developments involving detainees and family circumstances.
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