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The Chancellor of Panama, Javier Martínez-Acha, confirmed on Tuesday that seven Panamanian citizens remain detained in Cuba under an investigation process and potential trial, and that the Panamanian government is conducting discreet diplomatic efforts to achieve their release.
"The other seven are still undergoing that process of investigation and trial, and they are obviously awaiting a verdict," stated the chancellor, who reiterated that the Panamanian state provides ongoing consular and legal support for the detainees.
The case dates back to February 28, when ten Panamanian citizens were detained in Havana accused by the Ministry of the Interior of Cuba (MININT) of propaganda against the constitutional order, a crime classified in the Cuban Penal Code with penalties of up to eight years in prison.
The original group was made up of 20 Panamanians, but 10 managed to leave the island before the Cuban authorities made the arrests.
On April 25th, three Panamanian citizens —Evelyn Castro, Cinthia Camarena, and Abigail Gudiño— were released and returned to Panama after being set free, which the chancellor described as "a gesture of friendship" from the Cuban government.
Cuban authorities applied the legal concepts of “effective collaborator” and “criterion of opportunity” to justify the release of the three women.
The seven Panamanians who remain in detention are: Víctor Manuel Pinzón Cedeño, Anthony Williams Jules Pérez, Omar Gilberto Urriola Vergara, Maykol Jesús Pérez Almendra, Adalberto Antonio Navarro Asprilla, Patrochiny Jerodany Joseph Arisarena, and José Luis Aguirre Baruco.
According to the official version of the regime, the detainees allegedly entered Cuba intending to create messages with political content and would receive between $1,000 and $1,500 per person upon returning to Panama.
The Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer, from the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), defended the detained Panamanians and stated that they also distributed humanitarian aid—food and medicine—to political prisoners and their families in Matanzas, contradicting the official version.
The seven citizens remain detained in Villa Marista, the historic headquarters of Cuba's State Security in Havana, known for housing political prisoners.
The Chancellor Martínez-Acha traveled to Cuba in March and met with the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel, as well as with Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, and visited the detainees at Villa Marista.
The official emphasized that the Panamanian strategy is not about media exposure, but rather about concrete results, and that it operates under direct instructions from President José Raúl Mulino.
"That has to be managed quietly and with precision. We must respect the processes and laws of Cuba," stated the head of Panamanian diplomacy.
Martínez-Acha also specified that the Panamanian state is taking on the legal defense and consular assistance for the seven detainees: "We continue to firmly support, under the instructions of President Mulino, through consular assistance and the legal defenses that the state is undertaking for the seven."
"We do not stop thinking about them or making arrangements to bring them back," concluded the chancellor, emphasizing that diplomatic efforts will continue with caution but with a clear objective.
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