The United States Embassy in Cuba published a video featuring testimonies from activists who were barred from attending their Independence Day celebration, and posed a direct question to the Cuban regime: "Why are you so afraid of them?"
The event, called #Freedom250, took place on Wednesday at the residence of the mission chief Mike Hammer to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence.
State Security deployed an extensive operation to block the participation of independent journalists, activists, and opposition members.
Among the most affected were members of the youth collective Fuera de la Caja Cuba, who were summoned by the police on Tuesday to receive "official warnings" right on the day of the event.
In the video, one of them sums it up bluntly: "They do everything wrong, except for repressing; they are experts at that."
"This dictatorship has prevented us from attending. They summoned my brother and me for Wednesday, the day of the event," recounted another member of the collective in the material released by the embassy.
Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente (Anna Bensi), 21 years old, and the evangelical pastor Rolando Pérez Lor (Herald of Christ) were detained this Thursday for nearly 11 hours at the police station in Alamar, in East Havana, which exceeds the legal limit of two hours established by Cuban legislation itself.
Anna Bensi was released at 8:56 p.m. on Wednesday, crying and amidst applause.
The siblings Amanda Beatriz and Abel Alejandro Andrés Navarro, also from Fuera de la Caja Cuba, were summoned to the PNR Unit on Aguilera Street, in the municipality of Diez de Octubre, and released before Bensi.
The operation was simultaneous and wide-ranging. The journalist Yoani Sánchez, founder of the digital newspaper 14ymedio, reported having "a political police operation in the lower levels of our building to prevent us from leaving home."
The correspondent for the Spanish newspaper ABC in Cuba, Camila Acosta, reported increased surveillance in front of her home: "The operation is stronger than usual."
The activists Marthadela Tamayo and Osvaldo Navarro were directly detained. The journalist from Camagüey Henry Constantín received a warning that he would be arrested if he traveled to Havana, and Wilber Aguilar Bravo, father of a political prisoner from 11J, woke up with agents at his door.
During the reception, Hammer denounced the operation to the attendees and described the regime as a "repressive machine" that does have resources and fuel amidst the crisis.
He publicly asked: "Where is Yoani Sánchez? Where is Ana Sofía Benítez? Where are the guys from Fuera de la Caja? It's unacceptable."
This pattern is not new. In 2025, regime agents attempted to intercept the diplomatic vehicle in which Camila Acosta was traveling to prevent her from attending the July 4 reception that year.
Anna Bensi has been under house arrest since March 25, accused along with her mother of "acts against personal privacy," facing sentences ranging from two to five years in prison.
The Cuban police summoned her days prior following a public confrontation with Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, former intelligence agent and national coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution.
Hammer closed the night with a toast that encapsulated the feelings of those who made it despite everything: "I toast to the freedom of Cuba arriving in 2026."
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