The Cuban activist Lara Crofs —the public name of Yamilka Lafita Cancio— reported this Friday that State Security agents prevented her from leaving her home in Havana to attend the wake of her aunt, who passed away early in the morning at the Emergency Hospital in the capital.
Through videos and posts on Facebook, Lafita described an operation consisting of three State Security agents, two police officers, two additional women, a patrol car, and three motorcycles stationed in her neighborhood. The agents refused to identify themselves and did not present any document justifying the restriction. When she attempted to explain that she needed to attend a wake, they reiterated the prohibition, pointing to the patrol car as the only proof of their authority.
"I have a wake happening right now for an aunt who passed away last night at the Emergency Hospital, which I am not allowed to attend. I even tried to explain how delicate the situation is, and they reiterated that I was prohibited from leaving my house, without providing any further explanation and without even wanting to identify themselves," wrote the activist.
Lafita detailed that the patrol—identified with the number 222—was hidden behind a building on the block to avoid being filmed. "There is no paperwork, no identification, nothing; they are simply going to detain me and won't let me leave my house," he reported in one of his live videos.
The situation escalated when Lafita's brother arrived in his car to take her to the funeral. In light of his presence, the authorities changed the patrol — to number 287 — and removed her from her hiding place. The activist decided to stay home to avoid putting her family member at risk. "They changed the patrol and brought her out from behind the building because they saw my brother's car that came to pick me up for the funeral. I stayed home; I don't want any trouble with them following the car for no reason," she explained.
The wake also had to be held at the family home because there were no chapels available either in Calzadica or in Zanja. Lafita noted that even securing the cremation required paying 150 dollars, plus an additional 25 for the transportation of the body.
In her live broadcasts, the activist mentioned that on the same day, Ana Bensi, Cuesta Morúa, Karel Daniel Hernández Bosques—from the group Fuera de la Caja Cuba—, Camila Costa, and Eoni Sánchez, among others, were also under siege. The operation is part of a massive and simultaneous repression campaign in which the political police were also surrounding the homes of Yoani Sánchez and Camila Acosta to prevent them from attending an event at the U.S. Embassy.
The repression this Friday marks the latest point in a week of escalation: on Monday, Adelth Bonne Gamboa was arrested and work equipment was confiscated; on Tuesday, Camila Acosta was handcuffed and detained for over eight hours; on Wednesday, Yoani Sánchez was detained for nine hours on charges of "attacking the constitutional order." The Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Juan Pablo Segura, condemned the wave of repression on Thursday, describing it as a systematic campaign to silence the independent press in Cuba.
Lafita concluded his posts with a slogan and a warning: "What is my crime? Speaking the truth, that you are dictators, that you are thieves, that you are repressors, that you have this people at their breaking point, without light, without water, without gas. Is that my crime? Ah, well, if that's the case, then yes, I am guilty."
The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights documented over 3,000 repressive actions in Cuba between January and September 2026, a context that turns Lafita's case into another link in a repression that does not differentiate between politics and family mourning.
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