The head of mission at the Embassy of the United States in Cuba, Mike Hammer, visited activists, dissidents, independent journalists, and family members of political prisoners from the 11J, in direct response to the operation carried out by State Security that prevented dozens of Cubans from attending the July 4th celebration.
The embassy shared the visits in a video under the hashtag #WithCubansOnTheirFeet that garnered over 22,000 views on Facebook.
"Although they blocked them from coming to our celebration in July for freedom, we will continue to meet with Cubans who share values such as freedom of expression, religion, and the press, respect for human rights, and living with dignity," the embassy posted alongside the video.
The immediate precedent was the repressive operation of July 2, when State Security agents blocked activists, journalists, and dissidents from attending the celebration of the 250th anniversary of American independence at Hammer's own residence.
Among those visited by Hammer are the young Ana Bensi and the members of the collective Fuera de la Caja Cuba with their families; the leader of the Damas de Blanco, Berta Soler, and the opposition member Ángel Moyá; the doctor and former political prisoner Óscar Elías Biscet and his wife and activist Elsa Morejón; and the independent journalists Yoani Sánchez and Reinaldo Escobar, founders of 14ymedio.
They also received a visit from the parents of young people imprisoned due to the protests on July 11: Wilber Aguilar, whose son Walnier is serving a 12-year sentence; Daimy Albornoz, mother of Yoanky Báez Albornoz, sentenced to 14 years; Yenisey Taboada, mother of Duannis León Taboada, who has the same sentence; and Carlos Martín, father of Dayron Martín Rodríguez, who received a 30-year prison term—reduced to 22 on appeal—for recording the protests in La Güinera with his phone.
In the video, Hammer conveyed a direct message to those present: "We wanted to come here to talk with you again, to see how things are going, listen to you, and well, to discuss what happened on July 2nd, to give you all the encouragement in the world. Because, as Sofía has said, you have done nothing wrong, nothing illegal. You are simply expressing your ideas, your thoughts, which any human should be able to do."
The testimonies from the families of political prisoners featured in the video depict years of suffering and harassment.
"We have been suffering the absence of our son for five years," one of them recounted. Another lamented, "I can't put into words everything we have been through, because it’s not just the restrictions that are imposed on us; it’s also everything that has been done to our family, to his daughters."
Dayron Martín Rodríguez's mother summarized her son's sentence with a phrase that captures the brutality of the verdict: "In the trial, they gave him 30 years. 30, 30."
One of the testimonies also indicated that the regime has turned religious practice into a tool of repression: "They have turned the religious freedom of the Ladies in White into a political target."
The celebration of July 4th was indeed held at the residence of the head of mission, with the attendance of several dozen Cubans who managed to circumvent the police cordon.
In his speech that night, Hammer inquired about those who were missing: "Where is Yoani Sánchez? Where is Ana Sofía Benítez? Where are the kids from Fuera de la Caja? It's unacceptable."
According to the organization Justicia 11J, 338 people directly linked to the protests of July 2021 remained incarcerated in July 2026, within a total of 775 documented political prisoners in Cuba.
Filed under: