The Cuban influencer Amed Rodríguez, known on social media as Abejas Memes, publicly called for the release of the young people linked to the independent project El4tico, who were detained in Holguín during a police operation carried out on February 6.
In a video published on Facebook, Rodríguez stated: “Today I come to talk about something that cannot be ignored, several young people involved in the El4tico project in Cuba were detained by State Security, or rather, by the insecurity of the state.”
The content creator questioned the legitimacy of the arrests and framed the case in terms of fundamental rights: “When young people are arrested for thinking differently, for creating, for gathering, we are no longer talking about politics, we are talking about human rights,” he expressed.
During his speech, he also stated that "No country improves by silencing its people, no society progresses by instilling fear; culture, art, and ideas are not crimes."
Rodríguez referenced the family impact of the arrests: “behind every detainee, there is a mother who cannot sleep, a father without news, friends unaware of their whereabouts.”
The influencer described the call for freedom as a humanitarian gesture. “Asking for the freedom of these young men is an act of humanity, it’s saying 'no one should be punished for thinking differently',” he said in the video, where he concluded: “that’s why today from the little room I ask for the freedom of these young men, because what happened to El4tico can happen to anyone, including me, freedom for El4tico.”
The detained youths are Kamil Zayas Pérez and Ernesto Ricardo Medina, members of the El4tico project, a space that emerged in Holguín from which they conduct sociopolitical analysis and criticism of the Cuban reality. According to reports from the Ciudadanía y Libertad platform following the operation carried out on the morning of February 6, both were arrested and taken to the Provincial Criminal Instruction Headquarters, known as “Todo el mundo canta.”
During the registration, agents of the State Security confiscated computers, phones, cameras, and other equipment used to produce their content. Subsequently, the Provincial People's Tribunal of Holguín accepted a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of the young individuals, which requires the Prosecutor's Office to officially explain the reasons for their detention, the charges against them, and the conditions under which they are being held. The hearing was scheduled for February 12 at 9:00 a.m.
The case also generated international reactions. The U.S. State Department issued a statement regarding the detention and declared on X that “The illegitimate Cuban regime continues its daily acts of repression and abuses” and that it detained the youths “simply for denouncing the economic mismanagement of the dictatorship.”
The Cuban-American congressman Carlos A. Giménez also demanded their release and stated: “We do not know where they are, we do not know if they are well,” as reported in his public statement.
Inside and outside the island, influencers and content creators have expressed their support. The creator Yannys Real questioned the detention in a video shared on social media, while Kristoff called for not remaining silent in his message of support. The intellectual Alina Bárbara López Hernández also reacted after the detention, emphasizing that “What is forbidden is to think independently; the sin is to feel free,” in her public reflection.
While awaiting the outcome of the judicial process, the hashtag #TodosSomosEl4tico continues to circulate on social media, in a national context marked by economic crisis, power outages, and growing social discontent, where the debate over freedom of expression is once again at the center of public discussion.
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