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The Cuban Christian activist David Espinosa publicly denounced that during his interrogation on Monday, April 13, agents from the State Security tried to manipulate him into informing them about the content of a possible visit from the head of mission of the United States Embassy in Cuba, Mike Hammer.
Espinosa recounted that the agents asked him to inform them of what they wanted if Hammer visited him. His response was emphatic: "The only one who can govern my life is God, and even He respects my free will. That unsettled them greatly."
Far from being intimidated, the activist clarified that his home is open to anyone without conditions or commitments to the repressive apparatus. "Mike Hammer can visit me whenever he wants; but not just him, Miguel Díaz-Canel, Raúl Castro, or even any of you could do so, if you wish," he wrote on his Facebook account.
Espinosa also recounted that during the interrogation, he prayed for the agents—using the names they gave him—his families, and the authorities of the country. He spoke about Christ several times and repeatedly asked for forgiveness, emphasizing that his intention was never to provoke them. When he mentioned the existence of a statue of Lucifer at the country's zero point, the agents immediately changed the subject. "This struggle is spiritual; I have no doubt. My enemies are not them; the enemy is the god of this age: Satan," he wrote.
This was the fifth time Espinosa has been summoned by MININT. The summons was signed by First Lieutenant David Montero Brooks and cited "interview about possible illegality" as the reason, a term that does not exist in Cuban Criminal Law.
Simultaneously, his wife Laidy García was summoned for the first time to the same police station at Zapata and C, in the Plaza de la Revolución municipality, under a false pretext. "The summons was delivered the day before, on Sunday, at a little past four in the afternoon. According to the police officer who brought her, we were supposed to see him and the reason was the update of our identity card addresses. When we arrived, we never saw the lieutenant who brought the summons, nor were we told anything about our addresses, it was all a lie," García reported on Facebook.
Upon arrival, García was interviewed directly by State Security. "The real motive was to intimidate me so that I would influence my husband, David Espinosa, to stop publishing anything related to social issues and to focus on the 'religious'," she explained. The agents also attempted to recruit her, presenting themselves as "the good guys." García rejected this and described the treatment as threatening and intimidating from the very summons: "They made me go based on lies to intimidate and threaten me."
The immediate trigger for this new retaliation seems to have been the support that Espinosa and García provided to Ghelmis Rivero, sister of content creator Anna Bensi, when she was summoned by the political police. Anna Bensi has been under house arrest since March 25, accused under Article 393 of the Cuban Penal Code, with potential penalties ranging from two to five years. The Fuera de la Caja Cuba collective also had their phones disabled by ETECSA on the same day for their support.
The case is part of a broader escalation of repression by the regime against critical activists and content creators, amid a severe economic crisis with power outages exceeding twenty hours a day in many areas. Hammer, who has been serving as mission chief since November 2024, has made frequent visits to activists and Cuban citizens as part of the #Freedom250 campaign, and the regime has responded by attempting to turn those same citizens into informants. "We are not criminals; we are young people who love God and want the best for our homeland. Our loyalty is to Jesus Christ; we will be faithful and obedient to Him," García concluded.
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