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A journalistic investigation by the independent media outlet elTOQUE revealed that the officer from the Ministry of the Interior (Minint) known as "Juan Carlos," involved in the repression against independent journalists and artists in Cuba, is actually named Rafael Pupo Carnet and resides in the Playa municipality of Havana.
Identification was possible after their appearance in images broadcasted by state television during the tribute on January 15, 2026, to Cuban soldiers who died in Caracas, killed by U.S. forces during the extraction of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on the 3rd.
During the event, held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces, several State Security agents were displayed.
Among them was the officer known to his victims as "Lieutenant Colonel Juan Carlos" or "Saucedo," who was caught conversing with other repressors while waiting for his turn to parade.
Based on those images, elTOQUE was able to confirm that his real name is Rafael Pupo Carnet, born in 1967 and residing in the Flores neighborhood, in the Playa municipality.
The research relied on two protected sources: databases of leaked identities and the verification of familial connections.
The trail led to a video of a family wedding posted on social media in January 2024, where Pupo Carnet is clearly visible.
Five of his victims independently confirmed that it is the same agent who interrogated, threatened, or repressed them.
According to testimonies gathered by elTOQUE, Pupo Carnet used multiple aliases such as Juan Carlos, Darío, Adalberto, Augusto, Saucedo, or Roberto González, and presented himself with different military ranks depending on the context.
Several victims describe him as irascible and prone to threats, with a documented history of repressive actions at least since 2020.
The official was particularly active in the harassment campaign of 2022 against collaborators of elTOQUE and other critical journalists and artists.
Among those who have publicly pointed it out are Hamlet Lavastida, Carolina Barrero, Yennys Hernández Molina, Rafael González Escalona, Mónica Baró Sánchez, Alejandro Ulloa, Laura Vargas, and Ariel Maceo Téllez, among others.
The images from the tribute also helped identify other agents of State Security, such as the officer known as “Darío”, linked to violent interrogations and death threats, as well as individuals pointed out by activists as regular participants in arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and acts of intimidation against independent civil society.
Organizations such as Reporters Without Borders continue to position Cuba as the worst country in Latin America in terms of press freedom, with a persistent pattern of arbitrary arrests, surveillance, illegal searches, and harassment against journalists who do not align with the official narrative.
The public exposure of these agents, emphasizes elTOQUE, responds to the victims' right to the truth and the need to document accountability in a context where effective justice mechanisms do not exist.
The forced visibility of the repressors, this time through the state's own cameras, has partially shattered the anonymity that guaranteed their impunity for years.
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