A Cuban dissident who used Facebook to denounce the nation’s communist authorities is facing a potential 10-year prison sentence without a scheduled trial date.
Alexander Verdecia, a prominent member of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, is being held in a Granma province prison under poor conditions after being accused of spreading anti-government propaganda online, Breitbart reported.
Verdecia, 51, has long been an outspoken critic of the Cuban government, particularly targeting what he describes as inadequate living standards in his hometown of Río Cauto. He voiced many of these criticisms on social media, drawing the attention of authorities earlier this year.
In February 2025, police detained Verdecia on charges of “propaganda against the constitutional order,” which in Cuba can carry significant prison time. He was sent to Las Mangas prison in Bayamo shortly after his detention.
According to his wife, Eliannis Villavicencio, the conditions inside the prison are harsh. She has said Verdecia sleeps on cardboard and receives insufficient food, a problem allegedly shared by many inmates held in Las Mangas.
Despite being charged months ago, Verdecia has not been told when—or if—he will stand trial. Earlier this month, officials handed him a document indicating that prosecutors are seeking a 10-year sentence.
Rather than hire an attorney, Verdecia and his wife decided he would represent himself in court. Villavicencio explained that this decision was based on skepticism about the independence of Cuba’s legal profession.
“Lawyers here defend the same system,” she said, adding that retaining one would be pointless. She has publicly appealed for copies of the Cuban Constitution and Criminal Procedure Act to help her husband prepare his legal defense.
Villavicencio has sharply criticized the Cuban government on Facebook, arguing that it punishes people more harshly for their political beliefs than for committing violent crimes.
Verdecia’s access to family has become more restricted, with officials altering his phone privileges. He can now only place monitored calls from the prison’s office, as opposed to the more regular phone access he had previously.
Villavicencio says these changes seem intended to stop her husband from describing his treatment and the broader prison conditions. “A lot is going on in there,” she said, “and it seems they’re afraid he’ll tell me.”
During one recent call, she said Verdecia told her that authorities imposed the restrictions because he had spoken out. She claims a military officer interrupted the conversation and grabbed the phone from him.
This case marks the sixth time Verdecia has faced punishment from the Cuban courts, his wife said in a public post. His political activism has previously cost him his job and led to sanctions from the state.
In 2014, the government-owned rice farm dismissed him for his involvement with 'Priests for Change,' a Christian organization that criticized state control over religious institutions. Since then, he has actively participated in UNPACU, a well-known opposition group in Cuba.
Despite the lengthy legal history, Verdecia has remained committed to peaceful advocacy. His Facebook posts have primarily sought better living conditions and greater freedoms for ordinary Cubans.
Villavicencio continues to use social media to draw attention to her husband’s situation and to denounce what she characterizes as gross injustices in Cuba’s judicial system. “Freedom and justice for all political prisoners,” she wrote in one appeal.
She has emphasized the lack of evidence against Verdecia and criticized the Cuban leadership for using criminal penalties against expression. “There are no more manipulators and abusers of rights than those who’ve governed our country for over 60 years,” she said.
With no trial date announced, the fate of Alexander Verdecia remains uncertain. Legal experts say his case illustrates broader tensions surrounding political dissent in Cuba, where criticism of the ruling party often leads to criminal prosecution.
