The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Juan Pablo Segura, condemned on Friday the sentence handed down by a Cuban court against the content creator Anna Bensi and her mother, Caridad Silvente, describing the conviction as an act of cowardice by the regime.
"The cowardice of the Cuban regime knows no bounds. Once again, they flee in fear and censor anyone who expresses views different from those of their failed revolution," Segura wrote on his official X account.
The official, appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate in August 2026, demanded the release of all unjustly detained individuals, including the evangelical pastor known as "El Pregonero."
On Thursday, the Municipal Popular Court of Havana del Este found Anna Bensi and her mother guilty of the crime of “acts against personal and family privacy,” sentencing each of them to two years of restricted freedom.
The case originated in March 2026, when a sub-official from the MININT visited the home of Bensi and her mother to deliver a summons from State Security. Mother and daughter recorded the encounter and shared it on social media, which triggered the legal proceedings against them.
Anna Bensi, 21 years old and a resident of Alamar, Havana, reacted with composure upon hearing the verdict: "We are not criminals," she had stated before entering the courtroom. After learning of the sentence, she affirmed, "God is in control."
The day of the trial was marked by a strong security operation. The evangelical pastor Rolando Fidel Pérez Lora, "Herald of Christ," was arrested while heading to the court to support the accused, as was the Christian activist David Espinosa Martínez. Other activists reported surveillance and restrictions on leaving their homes.
The process was presided over by Judge Zamira Marrero Morgado, criticized by activists for having served on courts that judged the demonstrators from July 11. Despite the security measures, Bensi arrived at the court to the applause of family and supporters.
Segura also called for the release of the pastor "El Pregonero," who attempted to accompany the accused to the court and was arrested before arriving. "All those unjustly detained need to be released," the official emphasized.
The sentence generated a widespread wave of international condemnation. The U.S. Embassy in Cuba published on the day of the trial the message "Thinking differently is not a crime."
The Cuban-American congressmen Mario Díaz-Balart, María Elvira Salazar, and Carlos A. Giménez demanded the unconditional release of both women. Salazar described the process as "a desperate act of a dying dictatorship," while Giménez warned that those who oppress the Cuban people "will not go unpunished."
The organization Cubalex had argued from the beginning that recording the actions of police officers in the performance of their duties constitutes a legitimate exercise of citizen rights, a position that the court ignored when rendering its ruling.
Anna Bensi also revealed that the claiming agent initially demanded a public video apology "to restore his moral standing," a condition she rejected and which, according to activists, underscores the political nature of the persecution against her.
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