The independent Cuban journalist José Luis Tan Estrada, who has been exiled in Mexico since late 2024, publicly denounced this Friday a systematic pattern of intimidation that has intensified in recent weeks and which he claims aims to silence his journalistic work of exposing corrupt officials in Camagüey.
In a video shared on his social media, the journalist displayed messages sent from fake profiles that use the same language and rhetoric: they warn him that they are watching him, that they know his exact whereabouts, and threaten him with beatings if he appears in public places.
"Such threats are becoming increasingly frequent. Their goal is clear: to make me stop doing journalism, but they're mistaken. The more threats I receive, the more determined I will be to continue my journalism," Tan Estrada stated in the video.
The journalist directly links the increase in intimidation to his series of journalistic works on the corruption of local leaders in Camagüey, his home province.
"The threats have increased following my series of journalistic pieces denouncing the corruption of the leaders in Camagüey," he noted.
Tan Estrada also mentioned that he had previously received messages from a Mexican phone number indicating that they had found his exact address. In March 2026, as documented by Click-Cuba, he had already received the message "we've got your location" from that same type of contact.
The Cuban Institute of Journalists in Exile (ICLEP) documented death threats against Tan Estrada and intimidation of his family in Camagüey in April 2026, indicating that the persecution also extends to their loved ones in Cuba.
The journalist categorically rejected the anonymity of those who threaten him: "Since they are cowards, they never show their faces," he stated, reiterating his commitment to journalism: "I will continue to do journalism; I will not stop denouncing all these corrupt leaders in Camagüey."
The history of repression against Tan Estrada began in Cuba. He was expelled from the University of Camagüey in November 2022 for political reasons, and the State Security interrogated and threatened him that same December due to his posts on social media.
In 2024, the pressure intensified: he was arbitrarily detained by State Security on April 26 and held in Villa Marista until May 1, without formal charges or communication with his family.
He was also fined 3,000 pesos by ETECSA for "likes and comments" on social media. ARTICLE 19 documented at least nine assaults against him just during that year.
In response to a new summons for January 2025 under the Cuban Social Communication Law, he announced his forced exile on December 31, 2024, from Mexico City. Organizations such as ARTICLE 19, Reporters Without Borders, and Cubalex described his departure as a forced exile.
Her case is part of a broader pattern: at least 150 Cuban journalists have gone into exile between 2022 and 2024 due to harassment from state security agents, according to the Reuters Institute.
"In Cuba, they couldn't silence me, and here even less," concluded Tan Estrada in his denunciation video.
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