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Caridad Silvente, mother of the Cuban content creator Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente, known on social media as Anna Bensi, emerged from an interrogation at the Alamar police station in Havana with an accusation of having filmed the officer who handed her an official summons. She is now under house arrest and required to seek legal counsel within five days.
According to what she reported via telephone to journalist Camila Acosta from Cubanet, after leaving the police station, the authorities informed her that she cannot leave her home or receive visitors.
According to her testimony, the accusation is based on the video shared by her daughter, which shows the moment when two men dressed in civilian clothes came to the family home to deliver the summons.
In the recording, one of them shows his identification as Yoel Leodan Rabaza Ramos, a sub-official of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT).
Silvente stated that, once at the police station, she was taken to an office where two men and a woman, whom she identified as State Security agents, interrogated her for approximately two hours.
She described the experience as "horrible" and claimed that during the encounter, she was threatened with a sentence of up to five years in prison.
According to what she told Acosta, the interrogators questioned her not only about the recording of the agent but also for allowing her daughter to make allegations on social media.
She said they labeled her as a "bad mother" and accused Anna Bensi of being "counter-revolutionary," of "conspiring," and of receiving orders from the United States, in addition to linking her with support for Donald Trump.
The young woman's mother stated that the purpose of the procedure was to intimidate her in order to influence her daughter to stop posting complaints about the Cuban regime on social media.
He added that he barely answered the questions and that he tried to speak only as much as necessary during the interrogation.
A fabricated case by the regime
Silvente also stated that she refused to sign the documents presented to her and made it clear that she would not do so without the presence of a lawyer. She also indicated that she must appear next Tuesday accompanied by her legal defense.
According to the account, authorities also informed her that Anna Bensi will be summoned in the coming days.
The case falls under Article 393 of the Cuban Penal Code, which classifies the so-called "acts against personal and family privacy, one’s own image and voice, the identity of another person, and their data."
That provision punishes anyone who, without consent and with the intent to affect the intimacy, image, voice, or identity of another person, obtains, reproduces, discloses, transmits, or retains recordings, photos, videos, messages, or other personal or family information.
The regulation provides for penalties of two to five years of imprisonment or fines ranging from five hundred to one thousand units in certain cases, including when the unlawful use of personal data may lead to discrimination, harm to human dignity, or a serious risk to the victim, as well as in cases involving minors or persons with disabilities.
In this case, as Silvente told Cubanet, the authorities claim that the non-commissioned officer Yoel Leodan Rabaza Ramos "feels threatened" following the disclosure of his identity.
The Cuban regime's position is that filming public officials is illegal because they would be protected by the right to image and privacy.
The harassment against Anna Bensi
A day earlier, Benítez reported that agents linked to State Security visited his home to deliver the summons, an event that was recorded on video and later posted on his social media.
The young woman's mother questioned the procedure and noted that, according to current regulations, summonses must be delivered at least 72 hours in advance. Although she refused to sign the document, she indicated that she would indeed appear at the unit.
The influencer interpreted the summons as a form of pressure due to her activity on social media, where she often comments on the economic situation, daily life, and the lack of freedoms in Cuba.
"I know you are looking for a justified way to reach me. I am not afraid of you, I am not intimidated, and I will not be silent, because I am simply exercising my right to express myself," she stated.
Anna Bensi, a 21-year-old from Havana, has gained recognition on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook, where her videos about Cuban reality have reached a wide audience and have even been cited by international media.
The summons to her mother comes amid other recent reports of pressure against the families of young content creators who are critical within the island.
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