The Cuban regime could subject Eduardo Ceballos Pérez, creator of the satirical channel Despingovery Channel, to a trial before a military court following his detention this Monday in Havana, according to an anonymous source reported by Martí Noticias.
The charge he would face would be "Revelation of secrets concerning State Security," classified under Article 117.1 of the Cuban Penal Code, which stipulates penalties of 4 to 10 years of imprisonment.
The arrest took place during a large police operation near his home in the Diez de Octubre municipality. Independent journalist Ernesto Morales, who reported on the arrest, described it as “a tremendous police operation, with several motorcycles and many police officers from the Cuban regime.”
According to family sources cited by Morales, Ceballos is being held at the Penitentiary Instruction Unit known as Reloj Club, in the Boyeros municipality. A family member, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated: “The instructor told us that he will be processed, but we still can't see him. We haven't even been able to provide him with personal hygiene. We really don't know how he is doing.”
The immediate trigger for the arrest was the publication on Instagram of a clip in which Ceballos explored an abandoned military installation with Soviet air-to-ground missiles from the 1960s, radars, and Cold War bunkers in an advanced state of disrepair. "I'm touching an air-to-ground missile from around the 1960s, from the Cold War. Look at this, lovers of absurdity," declared the comedian in front of the camera.
The video turned out to be politically explosive at a time of heightened tension: just days before, the Cuban National Assembly had declared a "real and dangerous threat of direct military aggression" from the United States, and the regime was intensifying its bellicose rhetoric. The images of Ceballos highlighted the chasm between that rhetoric and the actual state of the Cuban Armed Forces.
The authorities informed the family that he would be prosecuted for "invasion of military property," but the lawyer Alain Santana from Cubalex warned that this charge does not exist in any Cuban penal code. "Accusing and depriving a citizen of their liberty based on a non-existent criminal figure constitutes a flagrant violation of the principle of legality," he pointed out.
Ceballos had anticipated his arrest. Weeks earlier, he recorded a video with instructions to make it public if he was arrested, which was shared by Morales on the same day as the operation.
In that message, the humorist stated: "If you are watching this video, it unfortunately means that I have been imprisoned, separated from my home, my family, my daughter, once again showing the true nature of the government of Cuba."
Morales described the case as "the chronicle of a foretold death": "A person who is gaining notoriety, not even with a purely political discourse, but rather a humorous, sarcastic, and entertaining one, showcasing the Cuban reality: total destruction, the misery accumulated throughout the country."
The case fits into a pattern of increasing repression against digital creators. The charge of military property invasion against Ceballos adds to recent detentions such as those of the members of El4tico and the harassment of youtuber Anna Bensi. The Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press recorded 69 arbitrary detentions of journalists just in January 2026, a 430% increase compared to the same month in 2025.
The comedian Ulises Toirac summarized the situation with a powerful statement following the news of the arrest: “The laws in Cuba are a sword against comedians”.
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