The Cuban actor and comedian Luis Silva, creator of the character Pánfilo, responded this Thursday to the sentence handed down against content creator Anna Bensi and her mother with a Facebook post that succinctly encapsulates the complaint that many Cubans cannot express aloud.
From Miami, where he resides with his family after leaving Cuba at the end of December 2024 —after the program Vivir del Cuento, in which he was the main character, was taken off the air without an official cancellation from the Cuban Television—, Silva denounced state censorship and repression.
"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 the people who think differently," he emphasized.
The post includes a photo of Bensi, and it arrived hours after the People's Municipal Court of East Havana declared her guilty along with her mother, Caridad Silvente, sentencing them each to two years of restricted freedom.
The charge brought against him was "acts against personal and family privacy" for having recorded and shared on social media the visit of an agent from the MININT to his home on March 10, 2026.
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 morale."
The case was initially archived, but a complaint filed by the agent himself reactivated it in July. On 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, noted by activists for having been part of the courts that judged 11-J protesters.
The day was also characterized by a police operation that included the arrest of evangelical pastor Rolando Fidel Pérez Lora and Christian activist David Espinosa Martínez, arrested while trying to attend the trial as spectators.
Bensi arrived at the court backed by Cuban artists and influencers such as La Diosa, Claudia Artiles, and Kristoff Kriollo, along with the support of the Baptist Convention of Western Cuba. Before entering, he stated, "We are not criminals," and warned that he did not expect a fair trial.
After learning the verdict, the content creator described the ruling as "an injustice" and simply stated: "God is in control."
The organization Cubalex had argued from the outset that recording the actions of police officers is a legitimate exercise of citizen rights, a position that the court ignored.
It is not the first time that Silva has publicly spoken out against the regime from exile. Last June, he attacked the Cuban leadership with a direct message: "YOU HAVE BEEN THE REAL OBSTACLE TO THE PROSPERITY OF CUBANS!"
The Cuban-American congressman Carlos Giménez also publicly denounced the process against Bensi and demanded the unconditional release of both women.
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