The Cuban political police deployed simultaneous operations on Friday in front of the homes of several journalists and independent activists in Havana to prevent them from attending an event held at the Embassy of the United States.
The journalist José Raúl Gallego, based in Mexico, reported on Facebook the police siege against activists Marthadela Tamayo and Osvaldo Navarro Veloz: “They were told that they could not leave their home today.” He also reported that activist Adelth Bonne Gamboa woke up surrounded by patrol number 444 stationed in front of his home.
Yoani Sánchez, director of the independent newspaper 14ymedio, warned from her account on X that agents of the political police were occupying the lower floors of her building to prevent her from leaving: "There is an operation by the political police in the lower floors of my building to prevent me from leaving home this Friday. #Cuba #SOSCuba".
The journalist Camila Acosta reported that State Security was blocking her and her husband's departure. In her post, she connected the operation to the American political context: "Political police are preventing my husband and me from leaving our home with an arbitrary operation. This is part of a repressive wave following the midterm election results."
The repression this Friday was not limited to those who were scheduled to attend the embassy. Karel Daniel Hernández Bosques, from the youth collective Fuera de la Caja Cuba, remained detained after responding to a police summons. Wilber Aguilar Bravo, father of the political prisoner from 11J, Walnier Luis Aguilar Rivera, also reported a police patrol in front of his home. "I just want my son to be free," he declared. Additionally, several people accompanying Anthony Martínez at a police facility in Guanajay were taken inside the premises.
The operation this Friday is part of a week of escalating repression. Yoani Sánchez was detained on Thursday for approximately nine hours at the Fourth Police Station in the Cerro municipality, accused of "attacking the constitutional order." Days earlier, Camila Acosta had been handcuffed and taken to the Playa police station while on her way to a veterinary appointment, where she remained for over eight hours. On November 2, Adelth Bonne Gamboa was arrested in Santos Suárez, and authorities confiscated his computer, phone, camera, and audio equipment, in addition to imposing a fine of 3,000 Cuban pesos under Decree-Law 370.
The pattern is not new. In July, a similar operation prevented Sánchez, Acosta, Navarro Veloz, and Tamayo from attending the July 4th celebration at the U.S. diplomatic mission. In September, State Security repeated the tactic to block their attendance at the "American Nights" event at the embassy.
The U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Juan Pablo Segura, condemned on Thursday the wave of repression, describing it as a systematic campaign to silence the independent Cuban press.
The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights documented 3,051 repressive actions on the island between January and September 2026, a figure that reflects the extent of the systematic persecution against those practicing journalism or dissent in Cuba.
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