The young Cuban activist Leandro René Hernández Ibarra reported on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) this Monday that he is stranded at Jorge Chávez Airport in Lima, Peru, after the Nicaraguan government denied him entry to their territory, which he believes demonstrates "the tentacles of the Cuban regime."
"I am a young Cuban who has openly dissented against the policies of the regime that rules my country, and that has always caused me problems with State Security. So much so that right now I am stranded at the airport in Lima, Peru, because the regime's tentacles reach even to Managua, which is its stronghold, and I find myself in a migratory limbo because I cannot leave Lima and cannot enter Managua. I can't even go to El Salvador; they wouldn't let me board. It is a flight with Avianca, and they are not allowing me to arrive even to get to El Salvador, where I need to make a connection before heading to Managua. I am making this video so that Latin America can understand just how far the claws of Cuban communism extend," he said in a video shared on X.
Hernández Ibarra is currently stranded at Lima airport, caught in a migratory limbo, after 48 hours without knowing how his case will be resolved. "Yesterday, we managed to find a ticket to Guyana with several layovers, but one of the airlines, Avianca, has a policy, as they explained at Information, allowing only a maximum of 24 hours for international transfers. After that period (he has been at the airport for 48 hours), they do not allow him to board a flight."
"Upon finding myself in that situation, I turned to the immigration authorities," the Cuban activist states, clarifying that he presented the Peruvian Immigration officials with all his documentation in order: hotel reservations, paid tickets, the email from Nicaragua denying him entry into the country, and the inability to return to Cuba. It was then, after 48 hours in the Duty Free, that he decided to seek political asylum.
Shortly after, he clarified on the social network X that he is waiting for the Foreign Affairs entities responsible for processing his asylum to arrive at the airport. "In the meantime, I have to continue wandering around the airport's Duty Free for as long as it takes," he noted.
In March 2022, the young Cuban Leandro René Hernández Ibarra reported threats from State Security during an interrogation he was summoned to. In a video shared on X, the activist recounted how the political police threatened him, even involving his family.
According to the young man, his interrogators asked him if he had a "new girlfriend," knowing that he had ended his relationship after his girlfriend had been threatened at her school with expulsion if she continued seeing him. They also criticized him for not being the son his father deserves, considering how much he has fought for the revolution.
The young man responded through social media, asserting his stance against the Díaz-Canel regime and sharing a photo of the citation he had received from State Security. To his interrogators, his position is not legitimate, but merely a quest for fame.
In June 2022, the Cuban regime imposed a fine of 3,000 pesos on this young activist in retaliation for a post in which he mocked and called Nicolás Maduro and Miguel Díaz-Canel dictators.
He is now facing reprisals from State Security, which he blames for carrying out maneuvers that have led to the prohibition of his entry to Nicaragua.
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