The Cuban actor and comedian Luis Silva, creator of the character Pánfilo, reacted this Thursday to the sentence handed down against the content creator Anna Bensi and her mother, Caridad Silvente, with a Facebook post that succinctly captures the complaint that many Cubans cannot voice aloud.
From Miami, where he resides with his family after leaving Cuba in late December 2024 —after the program "Vivir del Cuento" was taken off the air without an official cancellation from Cuban Television—, Silva denounced the state censorship and repression in relation to the trial against the young influencer.
"There is no food, no water, no electricity, no medicine. There is none, none, none… Crime is on the rise. But the priority of those in charge is those who think differently," he emphasized.
The post, accompanied by a photo of Bensi with her mother, was published hours after the People's Municipal Court of Havana del Este found them guilty and sentenced each of them to two years of restricted freedom.
The charged offense was "acts against personal and family privacy" for having recorded and shared on social media the visit of a MININT agent to their home on March 10th.
The agent, identified as Yoel Leodán Rabaza Ramos, had come to deliver a summons from State Security. Bensi revealed that, before filing the complaint, the officer had demanded a video of public apology "to restore his morals."
The case was initially closed, but a complaint filed by the agent himself reactivated it in July. However, since March 25, both had been charged and placed under house arrest with a prohibition on leaving the country.
The trial was presided over by Judge Zamira Marrero Morgado, who has been pointed out by activists for having been part of tribunals that judged protesters from July 11th.
The day was also marked by a police operation that included the arrest of evangelical pastor Rolando Fidel Pérez Lora and Christian activist David Espinosa Martínez, arrested while attempting to attend the trial.
Bensi arrived at the court with the support of Cuban artists and influencers such as La Diosa, Claudia Artiles, and Kristoff Kriollo, along with the solidarity of the Western Baptist Convention of Cuba. Before entering, he declared, "We are not criminals," and warned that he did not expect a fair trial.
After hearing the verdict, the content creator described the ruling as "an injustice" and simply stated, "God is in control."
The legal advisory organization Cubalex had argued from the outset of the case that recording the actions of police officers is a legitimate exercise of citizen rights, a position that the court disregarded.
It is not the first time that Silva has publicly spoken out against the regime from exile. Last June, he criticized the Cuban leadership with a direct message: "You have been the true obstacle to the prosperity of Cubans!"
The Cuban-American congressman Carlos Giménez also publicly denounced the proceedings against Bensi and her mother, demanding their unconditional release.
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