MIAMI — A Cuban-born South Florida man is on the 14th day of a hunger strike at a maximum-security prison in Eswatini, where U.S. authorities deported him earlier this year.

Attorneys for 58-year-old Roberto Mosquera del Peral call the move “cruel and unusual punishment.”

“It’s absolutely cruel and unusual punishment — and it’s theatrics,” said his attorney, Alma David.

David says Mosquera del Peral was taken by ICE during a routine check-in while trying to legalize his immigration status. His daughter, Monica, said she was shocked by the sudden deportation.

“How do we go from me hugging my dad to him being in a different country — and in prison?” she said. “He did his time years ago.”

Homeland Security officials cite his criminal record, which they claim includes a murder conviction. David disputes that, saying her client was convicted of attempted murder, served his sentence, and has no ties to Africa.

DHS said Mosquera del Peral was not sent to Cuba because “even Cuba didn’t want their citizen back.”

David questions that claim.

“If that’s true, you find a place that makes more sense than a country where he has no ties and ends up in prison,” she said.

Mosquera del Peral remains behind bars in Eswatini as his hunger strike continues.

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