The police arrested the young Cuban Luis Adrián Pupo García in the central park of La Maya, in Santiago de Cuba, on October 18, for protesting during the nationwide blackout.
Pupo, 35 years old, was at the location with several people when he loudly criticized the government following the disconnection of the National Electric System (SEN), which plunged Cuba into a total blackout for five days.
Witnesses told the newspaper CubaNet that two police officers in the area stopped him and took him to the La Maya police station, and Pupo "at no time" resisted arrest.
One of the interviewees for the independent media outlet stated that “that day the town was filled with police, anticipating any protests.” The man recounted that he was passing by when Pupo was speaking: “I knew he would run into trouble. The officers approached him and immediately took him away. He told them, ‘Take me, you’ll have to let me go eventually.’”
A friend and lodge brother of Pupo, identified as Roberto Serrano, revealed to CubaNet that in the unit, the officers attempted to confiscate the young man's phone "because they believed he was recording," but he refused and was beaten, "to which he responded."
According to the report, for that reason he remains detained, "under alleged preventive detention."
Last Friday, a week after his arrest, Pupo's mother was able to see him. The authorities informed her that they would charge the young man, although they did not specify the exact offense. The family suspects it could be for "contempt" due to the altercation with the officers.
Serrano stated that Pupo “is a peaceful, noble man. Those who know him can attest to this,” and emphasized that “he reacted because he was pushed, as Cuban authorities often provoke citizens they find troublesome in order to fabricate charges and eliminate them.”
“They have been stalking Adrián for a long time because of his stance; they were watching him,” said Serrano, clearly referring to the interrogation and surveillance by State Security after he interrupted a speech by the ruler Miguel Diaz-Canel during a visit to the municipality of Songo-La Maya last March.
Pupo, a graduate in Physical Culture and a member of the Masonic Lodge, then asked the Cuban leader if he was aware of the populist measures that are taken before his visits to various locations in the country.
“Let me finish!” Díaz-Canel interrupted sharply, but once he concluded his speech, he turned to Pupo in a harsh tone and asked, “What is it that you want?”
"Did you know that, because you came today, they painted La Maya a week ago?" the young man questioned amidst the crowd. The question stirred up a commotion among those present, and Pupo found himself surrounded by police officers.
From that moment on, he was interrogated and began to be monitored by agents of the Cuban regime's political police.
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