Anthony Martínez, a young Christian residing in San Antonio de los Baños, Artemisa province, received a police summons this Sunday compelling him to appear this Monday, October 5, at 9:00 AM at the "technical" office in Guanajay, with no explanation given by the officer who delivered the document.
Martínez himself denounced the situation in a video on Facebook, where he showed the paper to the camera: "Do you know what this paper is? A summons that I just received now at 2:30 in the afternoon. An officer came and without telling me the reason why I have to be in Guanajay tomorrow at 9 in the morning, just handed me this summons."
In his post, he warned that it is the third time the authorities have summoned him and urged his followers to spread the message: "Repression continues in Cuba."
The journalist and activist Yaiset Rodríguez Fernández alerted on her social media that Anthony has no criminal charges that would justify a police summons and that the officer "didn't even tell him the reason."
The citation arrives three days after the trial against Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente —known as Anna Bensi— and her mother, Caridad Silvente, held on October 1 before the People's Municipal Court of East Havana. That day, Martínez managed to leave his home without being detected by the agents who were watching him and attempted to accompany both of them. The regime declared them guilty of "acts against personal and family privacy" and sentenced them to two years of limited freedom, a penalty that restricts their mobility and prohibits them from leaving the country.
In his video, Martínez denounced that the repression that day was widespread and referred to how, in the context of the trial of both women, "we were treated as criminals, as murderers. […] It was not enough that Pregonero de Cristo was stopped on the way and mistreated." The evangelical pastor Rolando Fidel Pérez Lora was arrested in the street while heading to the court, and the activist David Espinosa Martínez was detained and allegedly taken to La Lisa to prevent him from arriving.
It is not the first time that Martínez has reported being summoned or interrogated by the authorities. The Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and Press (ICLEP) documented that on June 10, agents verbally summoned him—without a written order—for an "informal conversation," an incident classified as a direct violation of freedom of expression. Additionally, a formal summons from the Revolutionary National Police was issued in his name for September 24. The ICLEP considered that this incident undermined Article 54 of the Cuban Constitution of 2019, which recognizes the right to freedom of thought and expression.
Followers and friends expressed their solidarity in the comments. One wrote that the interrogation was a direct consequence of Martínez successfully reaching the trial despite the surveillance, and described the situation as "extremely regrettable." Another pointed out that repression "increases more each day and will get worse as long as these henchmen feel their end is closer."
Martínez concluded his video with a phrase that encapsulates the feelings of those facing this pressure: "What do you call this? It's called repression anywhere in the world. For thinking differently. Let the world know what is happening. Long live a free Cuba..."
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