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The youth collective Fuera de la Caja Cuba broke its silence this Friday after being held for nearly 11 hours by the Cuban State Security, and issued a direct warning to the regime: “What happened yesterday is inhumane, but evil is not eternal. They will pay for it.”
The repressive operation took place on Wednesday, July 2, when State Security agents simultaneously summoned four activists to different police units in Havana at 10:00 a.m., in what activist David Espinosa ("DavidSiloetano") described as a deliberate attempt to prevent their attendance at the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States at the residence of the diplomatic mission chief Mike Hammer.
The siblings Amanda Beatriz Andrés Navarro ("Betty") and Abel Alejandro Andrés Navarro, members of Fuera de la Caja Cuba, were taken to the PNR Unit of the 10 de Octubre municipality in Lawton, while the activist Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente ("Anna Bensi") and the evangelical pastor Rolando Pérez Lora ("Pregonero de Cristo") were summoned to the police station in Alamar, in East Havana.
The detention lasted nearly 11 hours, far exceeding the legal limit of two hours set by Cuban legislation for police interviews.
Espinosa described the day bluntly: "Almost 11 hours of psychological torture! 11 hours!" He added, "Undoubtedly, they wanted to prevent our participation in the celebration at Mike Hammer's house. What an outrage they committed!"
Outside of the Box, Cuba also expressed gratitude this Friday for the support received and explained that the lack of internet connectivity had prevented them from responding sooner: "There are so many messages of support and concern; we now finally have a minimal connection to respond a little."
In front of the Alamar station, a solidarity group attempted to sing religious praises, but agents of the Revolutionary National Police prevented them, claiming it was a military zone.
Neighbors in the neighborhood showed their support with gestures: they offered coffee, water, and the use of their bathrooms during the waiting hours.
Anna Bensi was released just after 8:56 p.m., crying, amidst the applause of her loved ones. The activist has been under house arrest since March 25, 2026, accused alongside her mother of "acts against personal privacy," facing penalties of between two and five years in prison.
The citations also showed formal irregularities. Abel Andrés Navarro reported that the document was "poorly written, outside of any legal terms" and that the date indicated "June 2" instead of July 2: "This only proves that this regime treats the law as a decoration."
The U.S. Embassy in Havana publicly denounced the repression, and Hammer questioned on X: "What do you think about state security threatening Cubans who attend or come to work at events, such as the celebration of the U.S. Independence Day?"
Espinosa concluded his account with a reflection that captures the group's sentiment: "Although Cuban Christians are free in Christ, we will never be physically free as long as we live under dictatorship."
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