The Cuban mother who recently erupted against Miguel Díaz-Canel over the poverty and hunger affecting families on the Island reported this Monday that she is being threatened with detention by State Security, after sharing her critical testimony on social media.
In a live broadcast on Facebook, Yurisleidis Remedios, a resident of Santiago de Cuba and mother of several children, raised the alarm that she had received a call instructing her to hand over her children to family members because "they were coming to get her."
"I just received a call to pick up my children; they are coming to arrest me. I am being imprisoned for exercising my freedom of expression," the woman reported live, while urgently requesting help and calling for the video to be shared "with the whole world."
According to his account, the threat came just days after a video of him went viral in which he harshly criticized the Cuban leader for asking the people for "resistance" amid the worst economic and energy crisis in decades.
"Just for telling the truth, that there is no food, that there is no freedom of expression, for saying that I want a free Cuba, I am going to be detained in twenty minutes," she stated, visibly agitated, while explaining that she was alone with her children.
Remedios sought international support and directly appealed to Cubans in exile, denouncing that her case is not isolated, but rather part of the systematic repression against those who raise their voices from within the Island.
Hours later, the woman reported again on Facebook that she had identified the man who called to threaten her, posting the phone number from which she claims to have received the warning, along with an image of the alleged oppressor on a video call.
The complaint by Yurisleidis Remedios comes after the release of a video in which she openly criticized Díaz-Canel for asking the people to make more sacrifices while, as she stated, the leadership remains oblivious to hunger and hardship.
"The president has food; it’s us who are screwed," he stated, in a message that also included a direct appeal to U.S. President Donald Trump, warning that the sanctions do not affect the power elite, but rather ordinary citizens.
His case highlights the lack of freedom of expression in Cuba and the use of fear as a means of control, even against mothers with children, in a country where speaking out against shortages can cost one their freedom.
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