In another act of repression, State Security summoned a young woman in Santiago de Cuba urgently to interrogate her after she posted a poll on social media asking people to vote for Marco Rubio or Miguel Díaz-Canel as president of the country.
The 24-year-old Selena Lambert Ortega, who identifies herself on Facebook as “Ojos Bellos Lambert,” shared a poll on Monday in the group “Buying and Selling in Santiago de Cuba” asking users to decide who they believed should be the president of Cuba.
A few hours after launching the survey, the political police notified him that he had to report immediately to the 2nd Police Unit of Santiago de Cuba, known as “El Palacete,” “tragically famous for political interrogations," denounced the communicator Yosmany Mayeta Labrada.
“At this hour, the young woman is already being interrogated by State Security agents, while relatives wait outside the facility, anxious and without official information regarding her situation,” Mayeta revealed on social media.
Lambert posted on Facebook on Monday around 11:00 p.m., and in less than 24 hours, it has gone viral. "The presidential elections in Cuba have begun. Leave me your vote," he wrote, urging internet users to choose by using the "like" emoji for Rubio and the "love" emoji for Díaz-Canel.
At the time of publishing this note, more than 36,000 people had reacted to the post and nearly 5,000 had commented.
In total, 35,000 users have voted in favor of the Cuban-American and current U.S. Secretary of State, while only 475 have supported the representative of the Cuban regime.
Mayeta, who also commented on the voting, emphasized that "Selena's only 'offense' was allowing the people to speak."
"A simple poll on Facebook ended up revealing something that the regime cannot tolerate: that thousands of Cubans publicly prefer an American politician over the ruler imposed by the Communist Party," he pointed out.
He also warned that this incident is further evidence of the lack of freedom of expression in Cuba, where “any expression of independent political thought is met with summons, threats, and interrogations.”
The communicator, a strong critic of the Cuban dictatorial regime, demanded “the immediate release of Selena Lambert Ortega” and held “the State Security directly responsible for any physical or psychological harm she may suffer.”
“Silence protects the oppressors. Visibility protects the victim,” he stated.
Filed under: