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Manuel Cuesta Morúa, president of the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC), was released this Sunday just hours after being violently detained at the Zanja police unit in Central Havana.
The Cuban opposition member went to the Zapata PNR on Saturday after receiving an official summons. Martí Noticias reported that it was a trap set by State Security.
The confirmation of his release was given by the activist María Mercedes Benítez, partner of the dissident and a direct witness to the arrest. She explained that the operation began on Friday, when State Security agents surrounded his home, where Cuesta Morúa was also present, and attempted to enter the premises without an official warrant.
"They surrounded us and tried to climb up to the house, saying twenty outrageous things," Benítez reported.
That same Friday, the 63-year-old opponent released a video stating that he would not appear for the summons from State Security, as he believed he had committed no crime.
However, on Saturday morning he received a call from a landline from someone who identified himself as First Lieutenant Lázaro Arocha, a criminal instructor with the national police, who requested him to report to the Zanja station with the assurance that it was a standard procedure.
Given those assurances, Cuesta Morúa decided to go accompanied by Benítez to avoid being arrested alone in public, a situation that often leaves his loved ones without information about his whereabouts.
Upon arriving at the station, the reception staff claimed not to know the supposed criminal instructor. Seconds later, the operation was set in motion.
"We arrived and asked for the person who called us on the phone. They looked at us as if they didn't know him. At that moment, six police officers came and, with force, put handcuffs on him," Benítez recounted.
The CTDC specified in its complaint that Cuesta Morúa "was restrained, handcuffed, and forcibly taken to a police vehicle" and that "violence was used during the arrest to get him into the patrol car."
In a statement released this Sunday, it was specified that Cuesta Morúa was also threatened with death by State Security agents. The agents confiscated his wallet, the business cards he was carrying, and tore up his identity card.
Benítez was removed to prevent her from interfering. When she tried to record the arrest with her phone, a State Security agent present at the scene directly threatened her: "Don't even think about it," and ordered the police, "If she records, lock her up."
The authorities did not inform Benítez of the location to which they were transferring the detainee.
The CTDC initially denounced the forced disappearance and pointed out that he may have been taken to Villa Marista or to the center known as 100 and Aldabó, facilities of the Ministry of the Interior historically associated with the detention of political prisoners incommunicado.
However, according to the version later provided, the opposition member was not taken to any of those centers, but rather to an unpopulated area of the province of Artemisa, where he continued to suffer physical assaults and threats.
The organization stated that the agents forced Cuesta Morúa to enter a vegetated area after crossing a fence, where he faced new intimidation. Among them, an explicit threat was highlighted, warning that they would shoot him in the head if he continued to promote the so-called "caldero tap" and encourage civic demonstrations for the upcoming July 11.
The CTDC classified the operation as part of "a pattern of surveillance, harassment, and persecution" and held the regime responsible for the physical and psychological integrity of the opposition member.
The history of repression against Cuesta Morúa is extensive. He was detained in November 2021 when he attempted to participate in the Civic March 15N, and arrested in January 2022 in Santiago de las Vegas, in addition to enduring mobility restrictions since 2019.
The statement adds that, after being detained for three to four hours, Cuesta Morúa was left in an area known as Ocho Vías, in Artemisa, without money, documents, or means of communication. He remained there for five to six hours until a passerby stopped to help him and assisted in his return to Havana.
The CTDC described these events as an act of violence and degrading treatment against an opponent who has defended civic and peaceful struggle for decades. The organization stated that the case is part of a systematic pattern of repression against those who promote democratic changes in Cuba.
Benítez summarized the situation of his partner as follows: "He was not a criminal or a murderer, but a peaceful opponent and defender of human rights."
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