A man is arrested during a demonstration against the government of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana, on July 11, 2021
A man is arrested during a demonstration against the government of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in Havana, on July 11, 2021 AFP

Cuban dissidents and journalists said Thursday that repression was still rife in the country, as it marks three years since unprecedented protests led to hundreds of arrests.

Spontaneous protests erupted across the communist island nation on July 11 and 12, 2021, as Cubans demanded food and more freedom amid economic strife, medical and food shortages.

The country's economic woes have only worsened since then, and hundreds remain in prison despite calls from abroad for their release.

Academic Alina Barbara Lopez, 58, who said she was under "house arrest", said Thursday the government "violently represses citizens" to prevent freedom of expression, movement, and association.

"Cuban prisons are today full of political prisoners," she said in a YouTube video.

Nearly 200 people, most of them intellectuals and artists -- including Argentine singer-songwriter Fito Paez and Cuban novelist Leonardo Padura -- have signed a statement denouncing the "repression" of Lopez.

She was detained on June 18 while traveling to a protest in Havana, the latest in a series of police actions against her.

On Thursday, the Miami-based human rights organization Cubalex reported on the social network X that activists had faced increased "harassment and threats" in the lead-up to the anniversary of the protests.

Independent journalist, Jose Luis Tan Estrada, said on Facebook that the police temporarily arrested him last Friday to warn him not to "be in public places, or in parks, or make publications or actions to incite people," on July 11.

Havana says that nearly 500 people were sentenced to prison terms of up to 25 years for involvement in the protests. NGOs and the United States say there are up to 700 people still behind bars.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated a call for the "immediate and unconditional release" of those arrested during the protests, "as well as for the release of all political prisoners detained in Cuba."

"The Cuban people will not be silenced, and neither will our commitment to stand by them in their pursuit of a brighter, freer future," he said in a statement.

The European Union and Catholic Church have also repeatedly called for the prisoners' release.

The Cuban government denies the existence of political prisoners and accuses the opposition of being "mercenaries" for the United States.