Five Years After Cuba's "11J"
1,306 Political Prisoners, and Protest Returns to Old Havana

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On July 11, 2021, tens of thousands of Cubans, angry over food shortages and blackouts, took to the streets across the country. The protests, known as "11J" (once jota), ended in a crackdown under the government's "orden de combate." Five years later, on the same date, pot-banging protests rose again in Old Havana — but police and pro-government groups deployed immediately, and the voices were silenced within the day.

What happened

On July 9, the human rights group Prisoners Defenders announced that Cuba held 1,306 political prisoners as of July 2026, the highest figure since its count began. Of these, 338 are recorded as having been imprisoned directly for taking part in the 11J protests of 2021.

In the mass arrests that followed 2021, several citizens received prison sentences of more than ten years. International human rights organizations have also documented psychological pressure, including severe restrictions on family visits, and report that as the anniversary approached, civic activists faced preventive detentions and threats.

Context: five years on, the causes have not changed

What triggered the 2021 protests were blackouts, soaring food prices, and an overstretched health system. Five years later, none of it has improved. Nationwide blackouts and shortages have become chronic (as previously reported), and the outflow of people leaving the country continues. The July 11 protest in Old Havana was sporadic, but similar spontaneous actions were reportedly confirmed elsewhere. I also covered the structural crisis facing Cuban society in this explainer.

The question: tougher sanctions or lifting the embargo — two opposing prescriptions

The U.S. State Department announced that, to coincide with July 11, it had imposed additional sanctions on the Cuban government's sources of funding and tools of repression. President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio also said in statements that "the Cuban people deserve a better future."

Yet stronger sanctions cannot be separated from the question of the economic embargo. The decades-long embargo effectively restricts imports, including food and medicine, and international bodies acknowledge it as one factor behind the blackouts, price surges, and medical hardship. With one camp saying "pressure on the regime must increase" and another saying "it is the embargo that is punishing ordinary Cubans," the international community remained split as the fifth 11J passed.

My perspective

What matters when reading the number 1,306 is that it is not a static figure. The count of political prisoners is updated monthly, and its rise and fall is itself a signal of how tightly the regime is clamping down. In a country where tens of thousands took to the streets five years ago, the sound of banging pots can still be heard. That the repression continues and that the discontent has not disappeared are two sides of the same reality.

Two indicators are worth watching: the monthly political prisoner count published by Prisoners Defenders, and everyday-infrastructure metrics such as the frequency of blackouts and the state of rations. If another large-scale protest erupts, I believe the trigger will be the same as five years ago — not a political slogan, but the limits of daily life.

Glossary

11J (once jota) = the common name for the nationwide protests of July 11, 2021; Spanish for "11" plus "J" (the first letter of julio, July). orden de combate = "combat order," the crackdown directive issued at the time by President Díaz-Canel. presos políticos = political prisoners.

Five years on, the sound of banging pots has not gone quiet — and the number 1,306 is the regime's answer to that sound.

※ This article is the author’s commentary based on public information. Please confirm the latest figures, dates and procedures with governments and primary sources. Quotations are kept minimal and sources are cited.