The Cuban regime has once again revealed its most repressive face. The young pediatrician Erlis Sierra Gómez, detained following peaceful protests in Baire, Santiago de Cuba, was forced by State Security to record a video of repentance and retraction, in which he read a text that was clearly imposed under pressure.
The material, anonymously shared in the buying and selling group "Revolico Baire," showed Sierra with a nervous tone, a fixed gaze, and a tense expression as he repeated phrases aimed at polishing the regime's image and discrediting the protests that shook eastern Cuba last week.
"I, Erlis Sierra Gómez, who was present at the social protest, hereby inform that I have not been mistreated either physically or verbally... Understanding that this was not the way to demand our rights, which should be done through respectful dialogue to avoid dividing our people," said the young man, reading with difficulty.
Sources close to the case, cited on their social media by journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, stated that the video was recorded under coercion after hours of interrogations by State Security in Santiago de Cuba.
“No need to overanalyze to notice that Erlis does not speak freely, but rather reads from an imposed script, probably written by the very agents who unjustly detained him,” denounced Mayeta Labrada on Facebook.
"These practices demonstrate the desperation of the repressive apparatus to control the narrative, while the people continue to denounce abuses and censorship," he added.
The communicator, who has been closely following the case from day one, also stated that other detainees, including nurse Humberto Nieto Sierra, were also coerced into recording similar videos.
“My sources from the communist ranks tell me that Erlis Sierra and Humberto Nieto Sierra have been forced to record retraction videos that will soon be released,” stated Mayeta Labrada.
The complete transcription of the video confirms the tone of submission and the language alien to the usual way of expressing himself for the doctor, who just days earlier had firmly stood up to the local authorities of Contramaestre to demand solutions to the shortages of water, food, and electricity.
On that occasion, Sierra Gómez expressed with calmness and bravery: “Here in the Constitution I have freedom of expression”.
His arrest, which took place on Friday following the "cacerolazo" in Baire, sparked a wave of solidarity both on the island and beyond. Thousands of Cubans shared the hashtag #FreeErlisSierra, calling for his immediate release and an end to the repression.
The young man's mother, Ania Gómez Leiva, was also briefly detained after posting a video asking for help from the people of Cuba. “My son did not touch a cauldron nor did he assault anyone; he only asked for solutions for the people,” she stated before being released.
For his part, opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer, from the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), reacted to the publication of the video with a strong message:
"This shows that denunciations and solidarity do work. They were pressured to make these kinds of statements because they want to intimidate and pacify the people, because the tyranny is frightened. They want to send them home afraid and obedient... The tyranny will lose anyway. Let no one be discouraged."
Human rights organizations consulted by CiberCuba have indicated that forced retraction videos are a common practice of the Cuban State Security, used to intimidate protesters and project an image of control to public opinion.
In the case of Sierra Gómez, the setup appears to follow the same pattern: a coerced recording, lacking freedom, and disseminated through local channels to manipulate public perception.
The incident adds to a long list of repressive actions following the protests on October 16 and 17 in Baire, when dozens of residents shouted “Freedom!” and “Down with Díaz-Canel!” during a blackout that lasted over 30 hours.
Despite the regime's attempts to impose silence, Erlis's voice—though coerced—has become a symbol of civil courage. Every phrase he once freely uttered, especially the one stating that "the Constitution grants me freedom of expression," continues to resonate throughout Cuba as a reminder that dignity cannot be negotiated or extinguished by fear.
Forced remorse as a tool of political control
The retraction video of Dr. Erlis Sierra Gómez is not an isolated incident. It is part of a systematic practice by the Cuban regime to subject its citizens to public humiliation, disguised as "repentance" or "dialogue."
These videos and reenactments are part of a carefully designed repressive strategy by the State Security, whose main objective is to control the social narrative and deactivate the civic impulse to protest.
The pattern repeats with precision: arbitrary detention of citizens who protest or criticize, isolation and prolonged interrogations without access to lawyers, recording of a video in which the detainee reads a mandated text or simulates a "reflection" dialogue, and controlled dissemination of the material in state media or local networks to instill fear and project obedience.
The doctrine of fear is executed in front of a camera. Every phrase, gesture, or word read under pressure aims to convey a message: that the State always has the final word. The purpose is not to reeducate, but to publicly break the will of those who dared to challenge it and to warn the rest of the country about what happens when the line of silence is crossed.
The method dates back to the televised trials of the sixties, but it has evolved over time. In 2022, the official spokesperson Humberto López inaugurated a new phase with the self-incrimination videos from Nuevitas, where young individuals like Mayelín Rodríguez Prado (“La Chamaca”) appeared admitting to alleged connections with foreign conspiracies.
CiberCuba then reported that the recordings were prepared by State Security as part of a media operation to "criminalize the frustration of the Cuban people."
A year later, in Villa Marista, the young Sulmira Martínez Pérez was forced to read a complete statement written by her oppressors. Her mother reported that “they handed her a sheet to read everything, everything she was supposed to say” and that the agents promised her freedom if she complied. The video was broadcast on the program Razones de Cuba, repeating the same format of submission and denial of abuse.
In March 2025, the script was moved to Río Cauto, Granma, where the leader of the Communist Party Yudelkis Ortiz Barceló posed alongside the protester Mayelín Carrasco Álvarez, stating that she was “very regretful for her behavior”.
The photograph, published on International Women's Day, aimed to turn repression into a spectacle of compliance, even appropriating feminist discourse to justify political obedience.
The case of Dr. Erlis Sierra closes that circle of moral degradation: a professional who demanded water, food, and respect for the Constitution, forced to read that “he understood that this was not the way to demand rights.”
The scene, shared in a local Facebook group, does not aim to inform, but rather to instill fear and demobilize. It is the digital equivalent of the old televised confessions, adapted to the internet age.
These staged displays follow the same propagandistic logic. First, they depersonalize the detainee, reducing them to a repentant figure. Then, they deny police abuse by insisting that "they have not been mistreated." At the same time, they reinforce the idea of national unity against a supposed "external enemy" and discredit the protests by portraying them as a mistake or manipulation.
Behind every supposedly voluntary statement lies hours of coercion, family threats, and emotional blackmail. The Cuban regime uses these materials not only as propaganda but also as a form of collective psychological punishment: a reminder that public dissent can lead to accepted and transmitted discredit.
As noted by Annarella Grimal in October 2022 regarding the self-incrimination videos from Nuevitas: “Each Cuban prisoner who self-incriminates on television serves as evidence of further humiliations and cruel and degrading treatment from the regime against civil society.”
The repentance videos do not demonstrate the strength of the State, but rather its fear of losing control over the truth. They attempt to erase dignity with a camera, but only manage to document their own authoritarianism.
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