State Security officials showed up this Thursday at the homes of several activists and independent journalists to prohibit them from attending the event "American Nights," organized by the U.S. Embassy in Havana, in a further demonstration of the repressive pattern of the Cuban regime against those who maintain contact with the U.S. diplomatic mission.
El Mayor John, an officer of State Security, appeared at the home of Dagoberto Valdés Hernández, director of the Centro de Estudios Convivencia (CEC), to inform him that the members of the organization were prohibited from attending the event.
The threat was made with a phrase that left no room for doubt: "We are coming to tell you in advance so that you don't have a bad night," as CEC reported on its social media.
In Havana, the activist Adelth Bonne Gamboa received a visit from the official identified as "Rodrigo," who imposed a prohibition on leaving his home from that moment until Saturday, without providing any formal justification.
Bonne Gamboa publicly reported: "The State Security officer 'Rodrigo' just showed up at my house to inform me in a threatening tone that from today until Saturday, I am forbidden to leave my home. I asked him for the reasons... As always, they can't explain. So the reason is the same as always: THAT THERE IS A DICTATORSHIP IN CUBA."
In parallel, the journalist Henry Constantin, director of the independent media La Hora de Cuba, has been detained since Wednesday afternoon in Villa María Luisa, in the Garrido neighborhood of Camagüey, at the operations and interrogation center of State Security.
What began as a verbal summons—Agent Felipe called him in on September 15 to appear the next day at 8:30 AM at the second unit of the Revolutionary National Police—resulted in detention without the authorities informing him of the transfer or the charges.
When members of La Hora de Cuba tried to contact him around 1:00 PM on Wednesday, the officials responded with evasions.
This Thursday, journalist Alejandra García, partner of Constantin, attended the scheduled appointment with instructor Juan Pablo, but he was not present; another officer informed her that Constantin is being investigated for the crime of disobedience, allegedly for not arriving on time for a summons on September 9 at the Directorate of Identification, Immigration, and Foreign Affairs.
The precautionary measure —which could involve bail, house arrest, or provisional detention— was set to be implemented this Thursday upon the completion of 24 hours of detention.
The operation on Thursday is not an isolated incident. The State Security carried out a similar action on July 4 to block the attendance of dissidents and journalists at the Independence Day celebration at the U.S. Embassy, and in January 2026 warned that it would prevent new contacts between mission chief Mike Hammer and Cuban civil society.
Constantin was arrested at least three times in January 2026 within a span of 12 days, and in June 2025 he spent four days in jail accused of contempt for publishing about the surveillance by State Security, according to the World Report by Human Rights Watch.
The CEC, for its part, has a history of harassment that includes interrogations of its directors in April 2026 and a travel ban to Havana imposed on Valdés Hernández in May of that same year.
"Cuba's Hour demands the immediate release of its director Henry Constantin and the cessation of repression against him and other independent journalists on the island," the outlet concluded in its public statement.
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