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The independent Cuban media outlet La Hora de Cuba received the Civil Rights Defender of the Year Award 2026 today, awarded by the Swedish organization Civil Rights Defenders, becoming the first media outlet in the Americas to receive this honor.
The award, announced this Wednesday, April 29, is shared with the independent Georgian outlet Netgazeti, which also operates under an authoritarian environment. According to the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), the Board of Civil Rights Defenders justified the recognition with the following words: "For their exceptional resilience and courage in defending freedom of expression, free and independent journalism, and democracy."
The award ceremony will take place on May 18 in Stockholm, but Henry Constantin, director of La Hora de Cuba, will not be able to attend. The Cuban regime has imposed a travel ban on him since 2019, which has prevented him from participating in international events organized by the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) and the Organization of American States (OAS).
The award highlights years of systematic repression against the media team's efforts, which operates from Camagüey documenting daily life, shortages, and social conflicts in Cuba.
In January 2026 alone, Constantin was arrested on three separate occasions within less than two weeks. The first occurred on January 14, when Constantin disappeared for 44 hours in Havana, isolated and without charges or a court order, while covering the funerals of Cuban military personnel who died in Venezuela.
After being released on January 17, the regime detained him for the second time that same week in Camagüey, in front of his daughter's home, where agents attempted to draw up a report against him for "inciting a foreign power" and "offending the memory of fighters," which he refused to sign.
On January 27, Constantin was arrested for the third time alongside collaborator Alejandra García, by State Security agents in Havana.
Repression is not new. In July 2021, Constantin and other journalists from the media were detained for ten days in Camagüey for covering the protests of July 11. He was also detained in December 2024 and in December 2023.
Constantin is the regional vice president for Cuba of the Press Freedom Commission of the SIP, a position that enhances his profile as a leading figure in independent journalism on the island.
Civil Rights Defenders was founded in 1982 in Sweden as Swedish Helsinki Committee for Human Rights and adopted its current name in 2009. In 2025, the same award was given to the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression.
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