✊ Civil Resistance — Protest & Repression Map 1959–2026 · where resistance & repression are happening
⚠ Why this section is deliberately coarse
This is a human-rights record of publicly-reported events — it tracks where protest and state repression occur (province / town level), so we can see where resistance to the regime is strongest. It is intentionally not precise: no individual activists are located or named, no real-time positions, no planned actions. A precise, named map of dissident activity would be a gift to the regime's security services — so we document repression and resistance without creating a targeting list. Group attribution reflects public claims (UNPACU, Clandestinos, Autodefensas de Cuba, independents) only.✊ Logged events
38,753
public reports
🪧 Protest/strike
8,839
acts of resistance
🚔 Repression events
29,882
state response/detentions
📍 Provinces active
21/16
with logged events
🏴 Movements tracked
26
civil-society / opposition
📰 News-sourced
1,441
independent-press reports
🏴 Resistance Movements & Civil Society 26
recognized movements — listing documents & validates them as part of the human-rights record
Damas de Blanco
SUPPRESSED
▸ Human rights · 2003 · Havana
Women relatives of political prisoners; weekly silent marches.
👤 Berta Soler
detail
Formed in 2003 after the Black Spring crackdown, the Ladies in White march after Mass demanding the release of political prisoners; awarded the EU Sakharov Prize in 2005.
⚠ Members face routine 'acts of repudiation' and mass Sunday detentions.
Estado de SATS
SUPPRESSED
▸ Artists · 2010 · Havana
Cultural-political project for open debate.
👤 Antonio Rodiles
detail
A Havana project hosting debates, art and the #TodosMarchamos campaign for political-prisoner release.
⚠ Founder Antonio Rodiles beaten and detained; the project pushed underground.
UNPACU
SUPPRESSED
Unión Patriótica de Cuba
▸ Civil resistance · 2011 · Santiago de Cuba
Largest grassroots civil-resistance movement; nonviolent protest and mutual aid.
👤 José Daniel Ferrer
detail
Founded 2011 in Santiago de Cuba, UNPACU is the country's largest opposition movement, organizing nonviolent protest, food aid and documentation of repression.
⚠ Leaders repeatedly detained; José Daniel Ferrer imprisoned multiple times, including after 11J 2021.
Somos+
SUPPRESSED
▸ Political · 2013 · Havana
Youth-oriented pro-democracy movement.
👤 Eliécer Ávila
detail
Founded by Eliécer Ávila, Somos+ promotes a generational, technology-savvy push for democratic reform.
⚠ Members detained; Ávila harassed and his equipment seized.
MSI
SUPPRESSED
Movimiento San Isidro
▸ Artists · 2018 · Havana
Artists and intellectuals against Decree 349 censorship.
👤 Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara
detail
Formed in 2018 in Old Havana's San Isidro district to oppose Decree 349's censorship of independent art; its 2020 hunger strike sparked the 27N movement.
⚠ Otero Alcántara and rapper Maykel Osorbo were jailed with multi-year sentences after 11J.
27N
SUPPRESSED
Movimiento 27N
▸ Artists · 2020 · Havana
Artist collective for freedom of expression.
detail
Born from the 27 November 2020 sit-in by ~300 artists outside the Culture Ministry demanding dialogue and an end to censorship.
⚠ Participants surveilled, detained and barred from travel.
Archipiélago
SUPPRESSED
▸ Civil resistance · 2021 · Havana
Citizen platform that organized the 15N civic march.
👤 Yunior García Aguilera
detail
A Facebook-organized platform that called the 15 November 2021 Civic March for Change; authorities blocked the march and besieged organizers' homes.
⚠ Founder Yunior García was besieged then forced into exile in Spain.
M-30-11
ACTIVE
Movimiento 30 de Noviembre Frank País
▸ Political · 1979 · Santiago de Cuba
Veteran opposition movement honoring Frank País.
detail
One of the older internal opposition movements, advocating peaceful democratic change since the late 1970s.
⚠ Members repeatedly imprisoned across decades.
CCDHRN
ACTIVE
Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Nacional
▸ Human rights · 1987 · Havana
Independent human-rights monitor; political-prisoner counts.
👤 Elizardo Sánchez
detail
The CCDHRN has documented political detentions and prisoner counts since 1987, providing one of the longest-running independent human-rights records on the island.
⚠ Members harassed and detained; reporting routinely censored.
MCL
ACTIVE
Movimiento Cristiano Liberación
▸ Political · 1988 · Havana
Christian-democratic movement; the Varela Project petition.
👤 Oswaldo Payá (founder, d. 2012)
detail
Founded by Oswaldo Payá in 1988, the MCL launched the Varela Project, a petition for a referendum on civil liberties that gathered tens of thousands of signatures.
⚠ Payá died in a 2012 car crash widely believed to be a state-engineered killing.
Directorio
ACTIVE
Directorio Democrático Cubano
▸ Exile support · 1990 · Exile
Exile group supporting internal nonviolent resistance.
detail
A Miami-based organization channeling support and visibility to nonviolent activists on the island.
Convivencia
ACTIVE
Centro de Estudios Convivencia
▸ Civil resistance · 2007 · Pinar del Río
Lay Catholic civil-society think tank in Pinar del Río.
👤 Dagoberto Valdés
detail
Founded by Dagoberto Valdés, Convivencia publishes proposals for a democratic transition and trains civil-society leaders.
⚠ Members face travel bans and surveillance; events disrupted.
FANTU
ACTIVE
Foro Antitotalitario Unido
▸ Civil resistance · 2010 · Villa Clara
Central-Cuba opposition coalition; hunger-strike activism.
👤 Guillermo Fariñas
detail
FANTU, led by Sakharov laureate Guillermo Fariñas in Santa Clara, coordinates opposition activity across Villa Clara.
⚠ Fariñas has endured dozens of hunger strikes and repeated detentions and beatings.
Damas de Apoyo / Ladies in Support
ACTIVE
▸ Human rights · 2010 · Havana
Women supporters marching alongside the Ladies in White.
detail
An auxiliary network of women who accompany the Ladies in White, expanding their weekly nonviolent witness.
⚠ Subject to the same Sunday detentions and acts of repudiation.
⚠ low-confidence — monitoring
Instituto Patmos
ACTIVE
▸ Religious freedom · 2013 · Villa Clara
Defends religious freedom and conscience.
👤 Mario Félix Lleonart
detail
An ecumenical initiative documenting violations of religious freedom and supporting persecuted pastors.
⚠ Affiliated pastors detained; founder forced into exile.
Cuba Decide
ACTIVE
▸ Political · 2015 · Exile
Initiative for a binding plebiscite on free elections.
👤 Rosa María Payá
detail
Led by Rosa María Payá, Cuba Decide campaigns internationally for a plebiscite to let Cubans decide on a transition to democracy.
⚠ Organizers on the island detained; campaign branded subversive by the state.
ASIC
ACTIVE
Asociación Sindical Independiente de Cuba
▸ Labor · 2016 · Havana
Independent labor union confederation.
detail
ASIC organizes workers outside the state-run CTC, documenting labor-rights abuses.
⚠ Organizers fired, detained and blacklisted.
MUAD
ACTIVE
Mesa de Unidad de Acción Democrática
▸ Political · 2016 · Havana
Coalition of opposition groups seeking a unified platform.
detail
MUAD unites multiple internal opposition organizations behind a common democratic-transition agenda.
⚠ Coordinators detained ahead of planned activities.
Prisoners Defenders
ACTIVE
▸ Prisoner advocacy · 2018 · Exile
Tracks Cuba's political-prisoner population.
👤 Javier Larrondo
detail
Madrid-based NGO publishing the most-cited monthly list of Cuban political prisoners, used by international bodies.
⚠ Its prisoner lists are used to document state repression at the UN and EU.
Clandestinos
ACTIVE
▸ Clandestine · 2020 · Havana
Anonymous direct-action collective; symbolic anti-regime acts.
detail
An anonymous network known for nighttime symbolic actions — painting slogans and defacing pro-government imagery — to puncture the climate of fear.
⚠ The state treats identified participants as serious criminal cases.
⚠ low-confidence — monitoring
Justicia 11J
ACTIVE
▸ Prisoner advocacy · 2021 · Exile
Documents and defends those detained in the 11 July 2021 protests.
detail
Justicia 11J maintains a public database of those arrested during and after the July 2021 protests, tracking sentences and prison conditions.
⚠ Volunteers face surveillance and threats; its data is suppressed on the island.
Autodefensas de Cuba
ACTIVE
▸ Clandestine · 2023 · Unknown
Emerging clandestine resistance network (low-confidence, monitor).
detail
A recently-claimed clandestine resistance network appearing on social media; details unverified and tracked at low confidence pending corroboration.
⚠ low-confidence — monitoring
Cubalex
IN EXILE
▸ Human rights · 2010 · Exile
Independent legal-aid and human-rights documentation center.
👤 Laritza Diversent
detail
Cubalex provides free legal information and documents rights violations; it relocated abroad after raids but continues casework on detentions.
⚠ Its Havana office was raided in 2016; staff interrogated and forced abroad.
OCDH
IN EXILE
Observatorio Cubano de Derechos Humanos
▸ Human rights · 2016 · Exile
Madrid-based monitor of repression and socioeconomic rights.
detail
The OCDH publishes monthly tallies of arbitrary detentions and annual reports on the human-rights situation in Cuba.
⚠ Its monitors on the island operate under constant risk of detention.
Alzados del Escambray
HISTORICAL
▸ Armed (historical) · 1960 · Villa Clara
Historical anti-Castro peasant insurgency (1960–1965).
detail
The Escambray rebellion saw thousands of peasants take up arms against the new government; it was crushed in the 'Lucha Contra Bandidos' campaign.
⚠ Forced relocations of families to Pinar del Río followed the campaign.
Alpha 66
HISTORICAL
▸ Armed (historical) · 1962 · Exile
Historical Miami-based exile paramilitary organization.
detail
One of the longest-standing exile paramilitary groups, formed in 1962 and conducting raids against Cuba during the Cold War.
🧊 3D Resistance Timeline EXPERIMENTAL
province columns grow with cumulative events — drag to orbit
🗺 Resistance strength by province
| Havana | 11,132 | 8057 | |
| Matanzas | 2,799 | 2415 | |
| Santiago de Cuba | 2,050 | 1626 | |
| Guantánamo | 1,799 | 1613 | |
| Villa Clara | 1,621 | 1301 | |
| Camagüey | 1,068 | 800 | |
| Pinar del Río | 842 | 711 | |
| Artemisa | 823 | 663 | |
| Las Tunas | 812 | 618 | |
| Sancti Spíritus | 774 | 595 | |
| Ciego de Ávila | 744 | 639 | |
| Granma | 582 | 449 | |
| Holguín | 569 | 476 | |
| Mayabeque | 515 | 438 | |
| Cienfuegos | 301 | 239 | |
| Isla de la Juventud | 168 | 155 | |
| La Habana | 84 | 40 | |
| Santiago | 4 | 4 | |
| Camaguey | 1 | ||
| Habana | 1 |
🏴 By claimed group
| UNKNOWN | 36,634 |
| NEWS_REPORTED | 1,806 |
| Cubalex | 132 |
| SPONTANEOUS | 62 |
| INDEPENDENT | 27 |
| UNKNOWN | 21 |
| OCDH | 10 |
| ARMED_RESISTANCE | 10 |
| POLITICAL_PRISONERS | 9 |
| Movimiento San Isidro | 9 |
| UNPACU | 6 |
| Prisoners Defenders | 6 |
| spontaneous | 4 |
| Damas de Blanco | 4 |
| MANUAL | 3 |
| Cuba Decide | 3 |
| Justicia 11J | 2 |
| Convivencia | 2 |
| spontaneous / Patria y Vida | 1 |
| Instituto Patmos | 1 |
| UNKNOWN | 1 |
📈 Events per year
| 1959 | 7 | |
| 1960 | 6 | |
| 1961 | 7 | |
| 1962 | 5 | |
| 1963 | 2 | |
| 1964 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 6 | |
| 1966 | 4 | |
| 1967 | 1 | |
| 1968 | 2 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
| 1970 | 2 | |
| 1971 | 3 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1980 | 11 | |
| 1981 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1985 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 2 | |
| 1988 | 2 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 2 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 3 | |
| 1994 | 8 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 3 | |
| 1997 | 5 | |
| 1998 | 6 | |
| 1999 | 526 | |
| 2000 | 611 | |
| 2001 | 502 | |
| 2002 | 547 | |
| 2003 | 833 | |
| 2004 | 695 | |
| 2005 | 522 | |
| 2006 | 654 | |
| 2007 | 999 | |
| 2008 | 1,204 | |
| 2009 | 1,971 | |
| 2010 | 1,673 | |
| 2011 | 1,775 | |
| 2012 | 1,590 | |
| 2013 | 1,481 | |
| 2014 | 1,482 | |
| 2015 | 2,113 | |
| 2016 | 2,209 | |
| 2017 | 1,716 | |
| 2018 | 1,482 | |
| 2019 | 1,498 | |
| 2020 | 1,140 | |
| 2021 | 1,802 | |
| 2022 | 1,297 | |
| 2023 | 1,317 | |
| 2024 | 1,800 | |
| 2025 | 1,904 | |
| 2026 | 3,307 |
| Date | Type | Province | Group | Summary | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | De aliado de Maduro a testigo potencial: Alex Saab tiene mucho para contar sobre Cuba y Venezuela | ↗ YOUTUBE |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Noticiero Martí Noticias | ↗ YOUTUBE |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Amnistía revela cómo Rusia alimenta sus filas con reclutas sin preparación | ↗ YOUTUBE |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | Artemisa | Cubalex | Jorge Bello Domínguez: más de un año de espera por una cirugía y nuevas complicaciones de salud | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | “No podía ni acostarme”: inmigrante cubano revela el castigo que sufrió durante su estancia en Alligator Alcatraz | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Hombre muere atropellado tras bajarse de un vehículo en la Turnpike de Miami-Dade | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Arrestan a cubano que estaba prófugo tras ordenar letal ataque armado en Cancún | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | Granma | NEWS_REPORTED | Alertan sobre circulación de billetes falsos de 5.000 y 2.000 CUP en Granma: hay seis detenidos | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Cámaras de vigilancia llevan al arresto de dos cubanos acusados de graves delitos en México | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Piden ayuda para cubano que lleva 17 meses detenido por ICE tras entrar con CBP One | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Alertan sobre estado de salud de rapero cubano MC K-Libre tras más de 80 días detenido sin juicio | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | Camagüey | NEWS_REPORTED | Denuncian "paradero desconocido" del periodista Henry Constantín tras citación policial en Camagüey | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Los presos tras las protestas de Altamira: algunos ni siquiera participaron | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Congreso español rechaza condenar la orden de Trump que declaró emergencia nacional respecto a Cuba | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Raúl Castro exalta en una carta la 'estabilidad y orden' de las cárceles cubanas, pero la realidad es otra | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | Havana | NEWS_REPORTED | Un médico cubano de 84 años desaparece en Madrid y su hijo acaba en prisión | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | "Mi función de vida no la elegí, me tocó": Aniette González y la bandera que la acompaña | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | — | UNKNOWN | [ES original; pending translation] Amnistía Internacional acusa a Irán de crímenes de lesa humanidad — Amnistía Internacional publicó un informe de más de 1.000 páginas que concluye que Irán cometió crímenes de lesa humanidad para reprimir el movimiento Mujer, Vida, Libertad tras la muerte de Mahsa Jina Amini en 2022. | ↗ USAGM_PRESS |
| 2026-09-16 | DETENTION_WAVE | — | UNKNOWN | [ES original; pending translation] “Mi vida peligra”: Preso político denuncia golpiza en la cárcel Mar Verde — El preso político Yosvani García Rusindo fue golpeado por el Jefe de Orden Interior de la Prisión Mar Verde donde cumple una sentencia de siete años de privación de libertad por el delito de otros actos contra la seguridad del Estado. | ↗ USAGM_PRESS |
| 2026-09-16 | REPRESSION | Las Tunas | Cubalex | Noticiero Martí Noticias | ↗ YOUTUBE |
| 2026-09-15 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Alias “Dios”: el cubano señalado por reclutar saboteadores para Rusia | ↗ YOUTUBE |
| 2026-09-15 | REPRESSION | Las Tunas | Cubalex | Noticiero Martí Noticias | ↗ YOUTUBE |
| 2026-09-15 | REPRESSION | — | Cubalex | Sabotaje: la palabra que convierte un hurto en 20 años de cárcel | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-15 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Dos cubanos quedan bajo custodia tras ingresar desde México por el Parque Nacional Big Bend | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-15 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Arrestan en Seattle a cubano de 27 años con historial criminal y lo colocan en proceso de expulsión | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-15 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Auditoría federal revela peligrosas irregularidades en el centro migratorio de Krome. Esto fue lo que descubrieron | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-15 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Todos los negocios de Miami deberán declarar si hacen operaciones con Cuba antes de esta fecha | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-15 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Alex Saab, testaferro de Maduro, admite culpabilidad: ahora podría testificar en contra del expresidente | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-15 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Pastor es liberado en Cuba tras más de tres meses de detención | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-15 | PROTEST | Havana | NEWS_REPORTED | Desacato y desórdenes públicos, los cargos contra líder evangélico cubano que gritó 'Abajo la dictadura' | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-15 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Denunciar los abusos del régimen provoca nuevos abusos: el caso del ex preso político Mario Alberto Hernández Leyva | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-15 | PROTEST | — | UNKNOWN | [ES original; pending translation] El rapero Matos Mc K-Libre cumple 80 días preso, sin una condena y con problemas de salud — Es acusado de “desorden público” por su presunta participación en una protesta en Playa, luego de apagones de hasta 50 horas | ↗ DISSIDENT_PRESS |
| 2026-09-15 | DETENTION_WAVE | — | UNKNOWN | [ES original; pending translation] Denunciar los abusos del régimen provoca nuevos abusos: el caso del ex preso político Mario Alberto Hernández Leyva — El castigo doble del régimen #cubano: violar los #DerechosHumanos de activistas y opositores y, cuando estos denuncian, volver a violarlos en represalia. El caso del ex #PresoPolítico Mario Alberto Hernández Leyva lo demuestra. | ↗ HR_PRESS |
| 2026-09-15 | PROTEST | — | NEWS_REPORTED | “El 11J fue solo humo”: frase de Polito Ibáñez desata indignación entre cubanos por olvidar a presos y familias afectadas | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-15 | PROTEST | Havana | NEWS_REPORTED | La Habana pierde a sus abogados en el caso de Londres y arriesga 2.500 millones de euros en demandas | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-14 | REPRESSION | Matanzas | NEWS_REPORTED | De las cárceles del régimen cubano al reconocimiento internacional por defender la libertad | ↗ YOUTUBE |
| 2026-09-14 | REPRESSION | Havana | NEWS_REPORTED | Dos hijos pierden a su madre mientras la violencia contra las mujeres sigue creciendo en Cuba | ↗ YOUTUBE |
| 2026-09-14 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Fue a capturar langostas en los Cayos y terminó arrestado por violar las medidas permitidas | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-14 | REPRESSION | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Presos políticos cubanos Félix y Saylí Navarro nominados al Premio Sájarov para la Libertad de Conciencia | ↗ News |
| 2026-09-14 | STRIKE | — | NEWS_REPORTED | Muertes por huelga de hambre en Cuba: el costo extremo de la protesta en prisión | ↗ News |