Odyssey of Cuban matriarch Maydolis Leyva Portelles and her family: Jailed because they refused to mourn Fidel Castro's death

A cautionary tale started in 2016 that continues through today

Maydolis Leyva Portelles and her family targeted by secret police in Cuba

Communist hardliners do not forgive or forget. The death of Fidel Castro on November 25, 2016 plunged hard line Marxist Leninists into mourning for the Cuban tyrant, and was the case with Stalin and Mao, not mourning the passing of the dictator was a punishable offense.

 Maydolis Leyva Portelles and her three children were punished for not sufficiently lamenting the passing of the individual most responsible for turning Cuba into a communist dictatorship for the past 61 years.

Twin sisters Anairis and Adairis Miranda Leyva, their mom and their brother Fidel Manuel Batista Leyva jailed for leaving their home during the period of mourning for Fidel Castro were recognized as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International in March 2017.

They had been jailed since November 27, 2016 for not having mourned the death of Fidel Castro. The three siblings were hospitalized following a hunger strike that began on March 7, 2017 and were conditionally released on April 3, 2017.   

However the harassment did not end, but has continued to the present day. 

Adairis Miranda Leyva has two children: Tahimí Rodríguez Miranda (age 14 ) and Alain Michel Rodríguez Miranda (age 12), that over the past three years have not been able to go to school out of fear for their physical security. Due to the beatings, Acts of Repudiation, offenses and threats carried out against them by angry mobs of communist teachers, parents and students.

On February 24, 2020, after they held a public protest on Holguín Boulevard, repression increased: they suffered severe beatings, arbitrary arrests, murder attempts, attempted police rape (against Ana Iris and Ada Iris), serious moral and political offenses. To make matters worse, the communist dictatorship seeks to jail them again on spurious charges.

On September 26, 2020, at 7:41 PM, mobs organized by the dictatorship, members of the violent rapid response groups led by secret police, began an Act of Repudiation against them. In this attack, they threw bricks at them, smashed their door and the window. The mob invaded their home, burned down their kitchen, and destroyed what little they owned. 

During the attack, in which more than a hundred people participated, the secret police led by Lt. Colonel Alejandro, head of the confrontation brigade in Holguín), as well as police officers were present to encourage the mob action sanctioned by the Castro regime.

Hoy, 3 de Octubre de 2020, mis dos hermanas Ana Iris y Ada Iris cumplen 31 años de edad. Mañana, 4 de Octubre de 2020, Tahimí cumplirá 14 años de edad.
¡Que Dios las Bendiga, Libere, Proteja y Prospere siempre junto a Alain Michel, Maydolis, Fidel Batista y Luna! pic.twitter.com/vZXpjHpnWs

— Ana Iris Miranda Leyva y Familia (@AnaIris72442501) October 3, 2020

They were only able to save themselves because they climbed onto a neighbor's roof; and at dawn escaped by going out through someone else's house. This happened to them, their dog and María Casado Ureña, a 72-year-old woman, was also physically assaulted and threatened by the mob for visiting them.

Now they are homeless and observing birthdays seeking refuge with good Samaritans who are in turn targeted by the dictatorship for granting them shelter.

Nearly four  years after they failed to mourn Fidel Castro's death this family is seeking asylum, and fear for their lives. This is how communism in practice deals with dissidents, and those who do not actively support the dictatorship in Havana.