El Guatao
Women's prison in Havana province; site of Anamara Barona Rivero's death, April 2026.
Last refreshed: 7 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
What do we know about the ninth prisoner death in Cuba in 2026?
Timeline for El Guatao
- What is El Guatao prison in Cuba?
- El Guatao is a women's detention facility in Havana province; Anamara Barona Rivero, 33, died there in unclear circumstances the week before 22 April 2026, the ninth documented Cuban prison death of 2026.Source: 14ymedio
- How many women are political prisoners in Cuba?
- Prisoners Defenders' political-prisoner count reached 1,250 by end-March 2026; the organisation's count includes female prisoners, though no disaggregated gender figure has been published for the 2026 period.Source: Prisoners Defenders
- Where is El Guatao women's prison in Cuba?
- El Guatao is a women's detention facility in Havana province, Cuba. Very limited public information is available about the facility; it does not appear in Cuban government publications and is documented primarily through prisoner testimony and family accounts.Source: entity background
- Who died at El Guatao prison in 2026?
- Anamara Barona Rivero, aged 33, died at El Guatao women's prison in unclear circumstances in the week before 22 April 2026. Her death was the ninth documented prison death in Cuba in 2026, according to a compilation by Cubalex and 14ymedio. The Cuban government has not publicly addressed the circumstances.Source: event 3085
- How many prisoners have died in Cuba in 2026?
- Cubalex and 14ymedio documented nine prison deaths in Cuba in 2026 up to the week before 22 April, including Anamara Barona Rivero at El Guatao. Cubalex has called for an independent investigation into each case; the Cuban government has not responded publicly to any of them.Source: event 3085
- What are conditions like at women's prisons in Cuba?
- Cuban human rights organisations have documented conditions at women's facilities including restricted access to adequate food, medical care, and family contact. OCDH's April 2026 report described transfers to punishment cells and removal of food and personal effects across Cuban detention facilities — including women's prisons — during the period the government publicly framed as 'indulgence.'Source: entity background
Background
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.