A young State Security agent prevented independent journalist Camila Acosta from leaving her home on Wednesday, without presenting a court order or identification, in an incident that she recorded herself and that Cubanet shared on its social media.
The incident occurred on October 28, the date when Cuba commemorates the 67th anniversary of Camilo Cienfuegos' disappearance, a day marked by official events and pilgrimages to the Havana waterfront. Preventive repression on politically sensitive dates—stationing patrols outside the homes of journalists and activists to restrict their movement—is a documented tactic of the regime.
In the video, the officer opens the exchange by demanding Acosta to stop recording: "Are you recording? I don’t give you permission to record me. That’s the first thing." Acosta responds by asking if they have permission to have a patrol car in front of his house. The officer's reply is brief: "The second thing: you can't go outside."
When the journalist demands an explanation, the official ends the conversation with a phrase: "I have nothing more to say. This is the end."
Acosta then reminds him that there is no document backing that restriction: "And what about the order that says I can't leave my house? I don't have a mobility restriction order." He concludes with a direct question: "And where is my right to circulate? My right to free movement in my country. And you all can be here with the patrol, right?"
The pattern repeats itself regularly. In May, the police and State Security had already prevented her from leaving to attend a mass at the Havana Cathedral — it was the third surveillance in a week — and in June she publicly exposed another agent who was watching her in front of her home, stating that she had been besieged “around a dozen times” so far this year. In July, agents surrounded her house during the anniversary of 11J, and in September she was detained along with her husband to prevent them from attending the trial of activist Anna Bensi.
The restriction also affects his husband, the writer and Mason leader Ángel Santiesteban-Prats, who since June has been facing a criminal proceeding for alleged illegal currency trafficking — the exchange of 300 dollars intended for charitable works — along with three other Mason leaders. The prosecution requested two years of restriction on his freedom and a fine of 20,000 Cuban pesos. Santiesteban was elected Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree on September 26.
After Wednesday's incident, Cubanet published a poster asking its followers to help identify the agent and defended the practice with an argument: "Exposing those who repress is legitimate because citizens have the right to know who wields power and how it is used. When they threaten a journalist or prevent her from leaving her house, they are using the authority of the State, and their actions are subject to public scrutiny."
Correspondent for the Spanish newspaper ABC in Cuba, Acosta has a documented history of aggression, with independent organizations estimating at least five incidents in 2024 and four in the first months of 2025, including arbitrary detentions, bans on travel, and information blockades. In March of this year, the head of the U.S. mission in Cuba, Mike Hammer, met with her and stated, "I am always impressed by the courage of independent journalists in Cuba who strive to report the true reality on the island."
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