Cuba marks 5th anniversary of historic July 11, 2021 protests as hundreds remain imprisoned

Jul 9, 2026

Five years after the historic July 11, 2021 protests, Cuba's severe economic crisis and political tensions remain unresolved. While the initial demonstrations were met with a harsh government crackdown—including the fatal shooting of Diubis Laurencio Tejeda and the imprisonment of hundreds—rights groups estimate that about 800 political prisoners remain behind bars. As exile communities in Miami and Madrid hold rallies to mark the anniversary, activists inside Cuba call for continued civic resistance against ongoing blackouts and food shortages.

July 11, 2021 protests

▪On July 11, 2021, thousands of Cubans across dozens of cities participated in the largest nationwide anti-government demonstrations since the 1959 Revolution.
▪The July 11, 2021 protests were driven by severe shortages of food, medicine, and fuel, prolonged power blackouts, and dissatisfaction with the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regime crackdown on demonstrators

▪The Cuban government responded to the July 11, 2021 protests with immediate mass arrests, police deployments, and court cases.
▪Security forces fatally shot 36-year-old Diubis Laurencio Tejeda during the July 11, 2021 protests in Havana.

Political prisoners still imprisoned

▪Juan Enrique Pérez Sánchez is serving an eight-year sentence for contempt, public disorder, and sabotage based on controversial odor traces found on rocks.
▪Human rights organizations Justicia 11J and Prisoners Defenders estimate that approximately 800 political prisoners remain imprisoned in Cuba, with nearly half connected to the July 11, 2021 protests.
▪Cuban authorities transferred artist and activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara to an undisclosed location, making his release contingent on leaving Cuba for the United States.
▪In April 2026, the Cuban government announced a humanitarian pardon for more than 2,000 inmates, though Amnesty International noted a lack of transparency regarding political prisoners.

Worsening humanitarian conditions

▪Five years after the 2021 protests, Cuba continues to face a severe economic crisis characterized by high inflation, food and medicine shortages, and persistent blackouts.
▪Sociologist Cecilia Bobes states that protests in Cuba have evolved from isolated episodes into a recurring way for citizens to express discontent.

Calls for continued resistance

▪Mario Alberto Hernández, vice president of the Movement of Opponents for a New Republic, called on citizens to return to the streets to demand freedom.
▪Guillermo Fariñas, coordinator of the United Anti-Totalitarian Front, urged Cubans to continue resisting the dictatorship from within the island through civic criticism and street blockades.

Fifth anniversary commemorations

▪Cuban Americans gathered in Little Havana, Miami, on July 11, 2026, to mark the fifth anniversary of the protests and demand freedom for Cuba.
▪Cuban exile communities organized demonstrations in Miami and Madrid to honor the July 11 protests and demand the release of political prisoners.