El Guatao

El Guatao is a women's detention facility in Havana province, Cuba. It is the prison where Anamara Barona Rivero, aged 33, died in unclear circumstances in the week before 22 April 2026, the ninth documented prison death in Cuba in 2026 according to a Cubalex and 14ymedio compilation. The Cuban government has not publicly addressed the circumstances of her death.

El Guatao holds female detainees including political prisoners and women convicted under ordinary criminal law. Cuban human rights organisations have documented conditions at women's facilities as including restricted access to adequate food, medical care, and family contact, particularly during the 2026 period when OCDH reported active deterioration across the prison system. The April 2026 OCDH report described transfers to punishment cells and removal of food and personal effects at Cuban detention facilities during a period the government was publicly framing as one of 'indulgence.'

Very limited public information is available about El Guatao as a facility: it does not appear in Cuban government publications, and international monitoring organisations have documented its existence primarily through prisoner testimony and family accounts. Nine documented prison deaths in under four months of 2026 is an elevated rate; Cubalex has called for an independent investigation into each case. The opacity surrounding El Guatao's conditions is itself a documented problem: it reflects the Cuban government's systematic refusal to allow independent inspection of detention facilities.