Juan Pablo Segura, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, demanded on Wednesday the release of the independent Cuban journalist Henry Constantín Ferreiro, founding director of La Hora de Cuba, who has been imprisoned since mid-September.
"The Cuban regime has unjustly detained independent journalist Henry Constantín simply for reporting the truth and exposing the regime's abuses," Segura stated on his official account on X.
The official accompanied the message with a poster identifying Constantín as "unjustly detained" and stating that his "crime" is "promoting independent media."
Segura also stated that the Trump administration will continue "exposing the horrific crimes of this dictatorship, pushing for accountability and supporting the Cuban people who deserve freedom from tyranny."
Constantín was arrested on September 16, after responding to a verbal summons at a National Police unit in Camagüey, and since then has been deprived of liberty.
Cuban authorities accuse him of "disobedience" for supposedly failing to appear for a migration summons on September 9. However, the journalist posted on Facebook that same day that he went to the Immigration office in Vista Hermosa, but the agents had already left and informed him that he would be summoned again.
After initially staying in Villa María Luisa, the headquarters of State Security in Camagüey, Constantín was moved without prior notice to the Kilo 7 maximum-security prison. His family was not informed of the transfer in advance.
A habeas corpus petition submitted to the Provincial People's Court of Camagüey has faced delays and administrative hurdles. Jurist Luis Orlando Bermúdez questioned the postponements and warned: "A ruling cannot contradict what the law of procedure states."
From prison, Constantín conveyed a brief message about his situation through his partner, journalist Alejandra García: "I am calm and remain determined."
The international pressure for his release has increased in recent days. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) demanded his immediate release on Monday and documented that this is at least the 19th detention of Constantín related to his work.
Artur Romeu, director of the RSF office for Latin America, urged that Constantín and his team be allowed to carry out their journalistic work without intimidation or arbitrary restrictions.
The Inter-American Press Society (SIP), an organization in which Constantín holds the regional vice presidency for Cuba on the Commission on Freedom of the Press and Information, also condemned his arrest. Its president, Martha Ramos, stated that “the summons, detentions, surveillance, and house arrests against Constantín are part of a pattern of pressure aimed at hindering his journalistic work.”
The director of La Hora de Cuba has been prohibited from leaving the island since 2019, a measure that prevented him from traveling to Stockholm this year to receive the “Civil Rights Defender of the Year” award, granted to his media outlet alongside the Georgian Netgazeti.
The case arises amid repeated criticisms from Washington towards Havana regarding the situation of political prisoners and restrictions on fundamental freedoms. In terms of press freedom, Cuba ranks 160th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2026 global classification, with a score of 29.22.
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