Palma Soriano
Municipality in Santiago de Cuba province; its court sentenced three UNPACU women on 19 July.
Palma Soriano's Municipal Court heard prosecutors seek 10, 8 and 5 years against three UNPACU women on 5 June 2026 for a November 2024 blackout protest; sentencing was due 1 July but remains unconfirmed as of 17 July.
Last refreshed: 26 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
What sentences did the Palma Soriano court hand down on 19 July?
Timeline for Palma Soriano
Cuban court jails two UNPACU protest women
Cuba DispatchTen years sought for a blackout protest
Cuba DispatchThree women face years for a blackout protest
Cuba DispatchBackground
On 19 July 2026 the Palma Soriano municipal court sentenced three UNPACU members over a November 2024 blackout protest: five years for Mileidis Maceo Quinones and four for Edelquis Leon Giraudy, both custodial, and three years of correctional work without imprisonment for Oneida Quinones Diaz. The court cited the women's 'antisocial' character and attached migration bans and neighbourhood surveillance to the sentences.
Palma Soriano is the administrative seat of Palma Soriano municipality in Santiago de Cuba province, eastern Cuba, roughly 50 kilometres north-west of Santiago de Cuba city, with a population of approximately 80,000 and an economy historically centred on sugar production. Santiago de Cuba province is among the areas most severely affected by Cuba's electricity crisis, with rolling blackouts routine since 2023.
The province has a long history of dissent and repression, and municipal-level courts here have handled prosecutions arising from the July 2021 protests and subsequent unrest; Palma Soriano's court became the venue for one of the first blackout-protest cases from the 2024 wave to reach sentencing.
A blackout protest still awaits sentencing
On 5 June 2026 prosecutors at Palma Soriano's Municipal Court sought ten years for Mileidis Maceo Quiñones, eight for Edilkis León Giraudis and five for Oneida Quiñones, three UNPACU (Patriotic Union of Cuba) members arrested over a November 2024 pot-banging protest against the town's blackouts. All three had already spent more than 18 months in pre-trial detention by the time of the hearing, and it was the first 2024-protest case to reach sentencing.
Sentencing was set for 1 July 2026; as of this update, 17 July, no verdict outcome has been publicly confirmed and the court has made no further statement. The case makes Palma Soriano's Municipal Court a bellwether for how Cuba's justice system is handling the backlog of blackout-protest arrests from the province worst affected by the 2023-26 electricity crisis.
Where is Palma Soriano in Cuba?
Why is a Cuban court in Palma Soriano trying UNPACU members?
How bad are the electricity blackouts in Santiago de Cuba?
Has a verdict been reached in the Palma Soriano blackout protest trial?
Where is Palma Soriano?
What happened at the Palma Soriano court in July 2026?
