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In an attempt to glorify its agents as anonymous heroes, the state-run media Cubadebate ended up publicly exposing the names of two active State Security (SE) officers: First Lieutenant Daniel Alejandro Licea and First Lieutenant Isaac Caraballo Ibarra.
On the occasion of the 67th anniversary of the SE, Cubadebate published a video on Facebook titled "State Security Organs in Defense of the Homeland," which journalist and researcher José Raúl Gallego highlighted on social media as the unintentional source of the revelation.
The paradox is significant: the video itself used the well-worn quote from José Martí to justify the secrecy of the body —"It has had to be in silence, because there are things that must remain hidden to be achieved"— while simultaneously exposing the faces and names of retired and active agents to thousands of viewers.
The video did not only reveal the two lieutenants. It also included the testimony of the doctor Carlos Leonardo Vázquez González. The infamous agent Fernando, whose identity was made public amid the discrediting campaign orchestrated by the government against the activist and playwright Yunior García, promoter of the March for Change in Cuba.
"I am a Cuban, a revolutionary, a follower of Martí, and above all, a fidelista. And for more than 25 years, I have been Agent Fernando of the State Security organs," said Vázquez González, remembered for his lowly espionage of opposition leaders and civil society who required his services as a doctor.
The propaganda material also openly described the nature of everyday surveillance of the body.
One of the testimonies collected from former agents stated that the strength of State Security lies in the fact that its members are ordinary people: "It’s simply the man or woman who goes to buy bread at the store with you, who rides the bus with you in the morning, who shares in the daily chores."
What the regime's propagandists presented as a popular virtue is, in practice, a description of a massive network of espionage and denunciation regarding the population, along with a mechanism of psychological terror amplified by the State's media.
The anniversary was celebrated enthusiastically by the regime's leadership. Miguel Díaz-Canel publicly congratulated the repressive forces: "Embrace to our brave fighters of the State Security, to whom we owe so much, for their defense of the Homeland, almost always anonymous and always risky."
Official media such as Radio Reloj, Juventud Rebelde, Tribuna from Havana and Canal Caribe covered the commemorative events.
This is not the first case in which the regime's own media serves as a source to identify its oppressors.
In January 2026, the independent media elTOQUE revealed the identity of the official from MININT Rafael Pupo Carnet, identified by multiple victims —including Hamlet Lavastida, Carolina Barrero, and Mónica Baró Sánchez— as the agent who interrogated and threatened them under various aliases. His identification was achieved by cross-referencing images from state television, leaked databases, and social media.
The Cuban State Security has around 36,000 secret agents and has been operating since 1959 as the main tool for political control of the regime, with a documented history of interrogations, arbitrary detentions, and systematic harassment against dissidents, journalists, artists, and religious leaders.
Raúl Castro summarized it bluntly, shaking the increasingly cracked image of the "external enemy" and the attempts of the "counter-revolution" to promote a regime change in Cuba:
"When enemies persist in challenging the present and future of the Homeland, the presence of the State Security Organs becomes more essential than ever," said the nonagenarian general who, in June 2025, was promoted to Minister of the Interior, Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, to the rank of Army Corps General.
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