News · Rights
Mother of political prisoner Jorge Bello says he returned from a hospital without being examined
Marta Domínguez Galero told Martí Noticias that her son, an ICLEP journalist sentenced to 15 years after the 11J protests, was taken from Guanajay prison to a hospital on Friday and came back without any doctor seeing him; he has been waiting for surgery for more than a year.
Independent journalist and political prisoner Jorge Bello Domínguez, 50, is still not receiving the medical care he needs at the maximum security prison of Guanajay, in Artemisa province, despite having had surgery pending for more than a year, Martí Noticias reported. For months he has suffered episodes of bleeding, swelling and severe pain linked to two testicular cysts.
His mother, Marta Domínguez Galero, told the broadcaster that prison authorities took him to a hospital on Friday and that he returned to the prison without being examined: "They finally took Jorge to the hospital to be seen. When they got there, the doctor did not attend to him because she told the guard that they knew perfectly well they had to book the appointment in advance. He came back for nothing, no doctor saw him," she said, in remarks translated by Yamacoa.
"It is the same situation with his testicles, the two cysts, and Jorge there in pain and in crisis," she added. "If they know that to take him to a doctor they have to call in advance, how long is this abuse and this disrespect going to last?"
Bello Domínguez, a member of the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press (ICLEP), is serving a 15-year prison sentence for sabotage, public disorder and contempt after his arrest during the demonstrations of July 11, 2021 in Güira de Melena, in the same province.
Prisoners Defenders has documented that he also suffers from type II diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma, among other conditions. In March 2026, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures in his favour and asked the Cuban state to guarantee a comprehensive medical assessment, specialised treatment and detention conditions compatible with international standards.
Sources: Martí Noticias · Serie Yamacoa: Presos políticos en Cuba (Prisoners Defenders)
Data updated: 2026-11-01T04:15:00.000Z