Family of 16-year-old teen imprisoned in Cuba makes urgent plea for his release

Jonathan David Muir Burgos was arrested and has been charged with sabotage following his participation in a protest and riot in Morón in March.

The family of a 16-year-old imprisoned in Cuba following an anti-government protest is pleading for his release amid worries over his health and the prospect of a long prison sentence.

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"We still see him as a little boy,” Elier Muir, 58, an evangelical pastor, told Noticias Telemundo by phone, as he described the bag of sweets and treats he brought to his son, Jonathan David Muir Burgos, two weeks ago. It was the first visit allowed at the maximum security Canaleta prison, in Central Cuba, where the teen is being held since mid-March.

“We cannot accept seeing him grow up in prison and become an adult,” he said. “My son is not a criminal, not a delinquent nor a vandal, as they have tried to discredit, defame and demoralize him.”