HRF condemns the Cuban regime’s sentencing of independent journalist and intellectual José Gabriel Barrenechea Chávez to six years in prison for participating in a peaceful protest during a blackout in Villa Clara in November 2024.

Barrenechea was convicted of “public disorder” by the Provincial People’s Court of Villa Clara and given the maximum sentence requested by prosecutors, according to the ruling disclosed on Jan. 15, nearly four months after the trial took place. (Diario de Cuba)

He was detained after taking part in a peaceful demonstration on Nov. 7, 2024, when more than 200 residents gathered outside local government and Communist Party offices in Encrucijada to demand the restoration of electricity amid prolonged blackouts.