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The U.S. Embassy in Cuba publicly questioned this Thursday the repression by State Security against Cuban citizens who were attempting to attend or work at its Independence Day celebration, part of the #Freedom250 campaign. "What do you think about State Security threatening Cubans who are attending or coming to work at events like the celebration of U.S. Independence Day?" the diplomatic mission wrote on X.
The embassy's message stated that "many have said that the regime is preventing them from attending" the event, and posed a direct question to the regime: "Why does it bother you so much that #CubanosDeAPie participates in an event that celebrates freedom?"
The repressive operation was simultaneously deployed against several activists and independent journalists in Havana. The journalist and founder of 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, reported on Facebook: "We have a political police operation in the lower part of our building to prevent us from leaving the house."
The independent journalist Camila Acosta, correspondent for the Spanish newspaper ABC in Cuba, also reported increased surveillance in front of her home.
"Several agents of the political police are monitoring my home. The operation is stronger than usual. Today is the commemoration of 4/7 at Mike Hammer's residence," he wrote on his Facebook account.
At the same time, the youth collective Fuera de la Caja Cuba reported that the police summoned its member Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente —known as Anna Bensi, 21 years old— and the "Herald of Christ" to receive an "official warning" at 10:00 a.m. at the police unit in Habana del Este.
"They want to intimidate us," the collective wrote on Facebook. The summons for Anna Bensi was signed by First Lieutenant Julio Torres Suárez and took place days after the young woman engaged in a public exchange with Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, the national coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution.
This pattern of repression surrounding July 4th is not new. In 2025, regime agents attempted to intercept the diplomatic vehicle in which Camila Acosta was traveling to prevent her from attending that year's reception. On that occasion, the operation also affected other opposition figures.
The #Freedom250 campaign was launched by the embassy in May 2026 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence, inviting Cuban citizens to send messages about freedom.
The head of mission, Mike Hammer, has maintained an active policy of meetings with families of political prisoners and activists, which has generated increasing tensions with the regime, which in March 2025 went as far as to threaten his expulsion.
Camila Acosta was under police surveillance at least three times during June 2026. In one instance, the journalist exposed on social media the State Security agent who was watching her outside her home. Hammer publicly praised her work in March 2026: "I am always impressed by the bravery of independent journalists in Cuba who strive to report the true reality on the island."
Since January 2026, the Trump administration has imposed more than 240 sanctions against the Cuban military conglomerate. In this context of international pressure, Cuba recorded a total of 1,133 protests in April 2026, a 29.5% increase compared to the same period the previous year, according to data reported in May.
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