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Madeleiny Fuentes León, resident of Santa Isabel de las Lajas, Cienfuegos, was detained last Friday by agents of the Technical Department of Investigations (DTI), which is under the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), in an operation that her family directly associates with the political activism of her sister Madeley Fuentes León, who lives in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Madeley is a member of the group Freedom for Cuba, an organization based in West Palm Beach that organizes caravans and public demonstrations to demand the end of the dictatorship and a democratic transition in Cuba, according to a report from Martí Noticias.
The operation began with a home raid at the women’s residence in Las Lajas. During the search, DTI agents showed Madeleiny photographs of her sister alongside prominent figures of the Cuban opposition, including the leader of the Unión Patriótica de Cuba (UNPACU), José Daniel Ferrer, who was ultimately exiled to Miami in October 2025, and the Cuban-American activist María Teresa Rafaeli.
The authorities also linked Madeleiny to another detainee from Las Lajas, José Luis Oliver Díaz, claiming that images of her and messages from her sister Madeley were found on his phone, in which she predicted the downfall of the regime: "that we are very active here, that we are working hard, that the dictatorship is going to fall".
Martí Noticias, which reported the case, noted that it could not find out the reason for Oliver Díaz's arrest or how long he has been behind bars.
During the registration, the agents confiscated the mobile phones of the two women present in the house and 20,000 Cuban pesos in cash, equivalent to just over 30 dollars.
The immediate reason for Madeleiny's arrest was taking a photograph of the officers from inside her house to alert her sister in the United States. Upon discovering the image on her device, the agents proceeded to transfer her to the criminal instruction unit of the province of Cienfuegos, popularly known as "Everyone Sings".
Madeleiny remains unreachable under a 72-hour investigation. Authorities have warned that if the photograph of the officers is made public, the young woman could face charges with sentences ranging from three to five years of imprisonment. The 92 arbitrary detentions just in July 2025, the most violent month against freedom of expression in three years, illustrate the context of repression surrounding this case.
The mother of both sisters was summoned to appear this Monday morning at the same police station. The Law No. 143 of the Criminal Procedure states that a search warrant must be presented and clearly explained at the time of the search, something that the family claims did not happen in this case.
From exile, Madeley Fuentes publicly denounced the case and questioned the legality of the operation. "My mother tells me that they read the search warrant quickly, but she, in her nervousness, couldn't tell me what the warrant said,” she declared. Human rights organizations demand the immediate release of Madeleiny, the cessation of harassment and accountability from the Cuban authorities.
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