Cuban-American Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar denounced on Thursday the harassment by the Cuban regime against young content creator Anna Bensi and her mother, Cary Silvente, after the woman was interrogated by the political police in Havana and placed under house arrest.
"All the repressive machinery of the dictatorship against a mother and her daughter. This is how cowardly the Cuban regime is," Salazar wrote on the social media platform X while referring to the case that has generated outrage both on the island and beyond.
The Republican legislator also expressed her support for the influencer and the youth who denounce the reality of the country. “I stand with Anna Bensi, with Cuban youth, and with all the brave individuals who dare to speak the truth. Cuba deserves freedom. And let there be no doubt: that day will come,” she added.
The statement comes amid mounting pressure on the family of the 21-year-old woman from Havana, known on social media for her videos about the economic crisis, daily life, and the lack of freedoms in Cuba.
Bensi's mother was summoned and interrogated for about two hours on Wednesday at a police station in Alamar, Havana. After the interrogation, authorities informed her that she is facing a criminal charge for filming an officer who came to her home to deliver an official summons.
According to her testimony, during the meeting she was threatened with a possible sentence of up to five years in prison and was pressured to influence her daughter to stop posting complaints on social media.
The woman stated that the interrogators labeled her a "bad mother" and accused the young influencer of being "counter-revolutionary" and allegedly acting under orders from the United States.
The case is based on Article 393 of the Cuban Penal Code, which penalizes the disclosure of images or personal data without consent when, according to the authorities, it affects the privacy or safety of a person. In this case, the non-commissioned officer of the Ministry of the Interior whose identity appeared in the video claimed to feel threatened following the dissemination of the recording.
Anna Bensi has publicly denounced that the process against her mother seeks to intimidate her for her online activities. The young woman stated that neither she nor her mother has committed any crime and held the State Security responsible for any harm that could happen to them.
The case has generated international reactions. The U.S. Embassy in Havana also demanded that the regime stop threatening both women and warned that officials involved in abuses against citizens could face sanctions and visa restrictions.
Meanwhile, the young woman has reiterated that she does not intend to remain silent.
“They can imprison, they can kill people, but they cannot imprison ideas,” he recently stated in a message that also called for freedom for political prisoners and for Cuba.
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