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The State Security has unleashed a campaign of harassment and intimidation against the families of political prisoners and activists in Santa Clara and Contramaestre following the proliferation of anti-government posters and graffiti that have appeared in the streets of both locations demanding an end to the dictatorship.
On Friday, June 12, Margarita Márquez Blanco was summoned without prior notice to the 5th police unit of Santa Clara, where she waited half an hour before being interrogated by two State Security agents who alternated false friendliness with direct threats, according to a report by Martí Noticias.
Márquez Blanco is responsible for two minors and is the wife and stepmother of two political prisoners: Serguey Pozo Tagle and his son Yamislán Pozo Águila, who have been detained since February 2025 and are charged with "propaganda against the constitutional order" for distributing leaflets on main streets in Santa Clara under the slogan CubaPrimero, calling on citizens to join a "zero day."
Márquez Blanco herself explained the purpose of the interrogation: "They are threatening me because every so often, the town of Santa Clara wakes up from one end to the other filled with little signs, and they don’t know who is putting them up. Therefore, they are threatening anyone they think might be an activist and summoning them to see who they can extract information from, to find out who it is."
The Prosecutor's Office requested seven years in prison for Serguey Pozo Tagle and six for his son. The Provincial Court of Villa Clara has concluded the trial, with a verdict expected on December 15, 2025, with no final resolution as of now.
Despite the detention of these activists, protest messages continue to flood Santa Clara, overcoming the heavy police presence and demonstrating that repression has not succeeded in silencing discontent.
In the eastern part of the island, the Santiago municipality of Contramaestre is experiencing a similar situation that has been ongoing for several weeks, the report explains.
Residents speaking anonymously describe a wave of posters and graffiti on the walls of private buildings and public streets featuring slogans that call for the removal of the Communist Party, demand a political transition, and urge neighbors to take to the streets.
A resident who requested to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals summed up the extent of the actions: "Contramaestre is on fire: Posters everywhere. The roads are written on. In front of my son's house, they vandalized everything and put up posters."
This phenomenon occurs within a context of increasing unrest in Santiago de Cuba, where last Friday, June 12, residents of the José Martí Urban Center protested demanding electricity, food, and freedom. This Sunday, a mother in Altamira reported police repression with batons against mothers and children during a protest for the same reasons.
The practice of summoning family members of political prisoners as a method of pressure is systematic. In April 2026, State Security summoned three individuals released from prison following the 11J protests just one day after they posted a request for the freedom of another prisoner on social media.
The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts recorded a record high of 41 anti-government graffiti and murals in Cuba in June 2026, the highest monthly figure since it began documenting them in September 2020, amidst an energy crisis with blackouts lasting up to 50-80 hours and 1,311 protests recorded in May across the island.
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