Heberto Juan Padilla (20 January 1932 – 25 September 2000) was a Cuban poet, and the center of the so-called "Padilla affair" when he was imprisoned for criticizing the government.
He was born in Puerta de Golpe, Pinar del Río, Cuba.
His first book of poetry, Las rosas audaces (The Audacious Roses), was published in 1949.
After his first marriage to Bertha Hernandez with whom he had three children, Giselle, Maria and Carlos Padilla, he married poet Belkis Cuza Malé in 1972.