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The repressive forces of the Cuban regime continue their harassment of critical voices and opponents within the country. This Sunday, content creator David Espinosa and his wife Laidy García were summoned for an "interview regarding possible illegality." They are required to appear on Monday, the 13th, at 2:00 PM, at the station of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) located at Zapata and C in the Plaza de la Revolución municipality, where they reside.
According to journalist Yaiset Rodríguez Fernández, who reported the incident on Facebook and shared images of the police summons published by Espinosa, this is the fifth time the young religious man has been summoned, and this time it is compounded by the fact that his wife and the mother of his children were also included.
Rodríguez Fernández described the summons documents—signed by First Lieutenant David Montero Brooks—as "infamous papers," and stated that "the only illegal ones in Cuba should be all these members of the mafia who have kidnapped the country, along with their accomplices."
The grounds of "interview regarding possible illegality" do not exist in Criminal Law to justify an official summons, opined one of the commenters on David Espinosa's wall, and noted that "when there’s no legitimate way to proceed, unfortunately, one improvises," alluding to the murky and unorthodox manner in which the police apparatus applies its interpretation of the law.
"Oren por nosotros," Espinosa merely posted, who has appeared in critical videos against the Cuban government alongside the dissenting influencers from the group Fuera de la Caja Cuba and YouTuber Anna Bensi (Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente). Immediately, dozens of users expressed their support, highlighting yet another instance of the abuses by the dictatorial power that "have become part of everyday life," as one netizen reflected.
The immediate trigger for this new retaliation, Rodríguez Fernández suggested, seems to be the support that Espinosa and Laidy provided to Ghelmis Rivero, sister of Anna Bensi, when she was summoned by the political police. "The possible 'illegality' would then be the accompaniment, the free expression, or the multiple occasions in which David expresses his desire for Cubans to finally be able to choose the phone company they want to pay for," the journalist commented.
In that summons, the agents confiscated Rivero's passport hours before her flight back to the United States, where she resides as an American citizen, warning her that, even though she had that citizenship, "they could do anything with it because she was still in Cuba," the complainant reported.
In any case, clear or legally legitimate reasons are not necessary for the regime's surveillance and control apparatus to be activated against someone they find uncomfortable. "The vast majority of Cubans are criminals, prosecutable if the dictators, the masters of 'order' and 'law,' see fit," Rodríguez Fernández ironized.
The repressive wave of the system has intensified in the early months of 2026, as the country sinks into the pronounced deterioration of all services and institutions, with daily blackouts exceeding 20 hours in many areas and ongoing protests from the population.
Anna Bensi has been placed under house arrest since March 25, charged under Article 393 of the Penal Code, with potential penalties ranging from two to five years. Earlier in March, State Security agents summoned her mother, Caridad Silvente, with threats of up to five years in prison for allowing her daughter's reports on social media.
The collective Fuera de la Caja Cuba has also been the target of intimidating visits to the homes of its members, threats to family members at their workplaces, and the disabling of phones when they supported Anna Bensi. Other creators such as the YouTubers from El4tico, detained in Holguín since February, and the young Ankeilys Guerra, transferred to Villa Marista following a live broadcast, could also be mentioned as part of the recent repressive landscape.
Rodríguez Fernández concluded his publication by urging to remain vigilant about the fate of David and Laidy in this new interrogation, and he summarized the situation with a phrase that encapsulates the feelings of a significant portion of the island's populace: "This agony must end."
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