14ymedio Havana, 8 February 2017 – Officers from Cuba’s National Revolutionary Police searched the home of ‘YouTuber’ and activist Alexei Gamez, in Jagüey Grande in the province of Matanzas. According to Eliecer Avila, leader of the Somos+ (We Are More) Movement, the agents entered the house in the morning and have not allowed access to family or friends.
“During the search they seized numerous appliances and the phones of all the family members,” explained Avila. Another source close to Gámez detailed that the young man was taken from his home “in police custody” and taken away in a patrol car. His mother tried to take a photo of the moment, but as a result was also arrested.
Alexei Gámez is a member of Somos+ and a self-employed worker. “He has a license that allows him to work as a motorcycle mechanic,” Avila explained. The activist is part of the Methodist community and in recent days has created a channel on YouTube to teach Cubans how to “make better use of the internet” on the island.
Under the name “Calle Mora,” the channel broadcasts advice on wireless networks and content sharing. To date it has published two videos with “alternative solutions to connect and better understand technology,” explains its creator.
Last November, Gámez was detained for seven days along with other members of the movement, after being arrested when he tried to participate in Academy 1010, a civic development initiative promoted by Somos+.
The latest video could be the cause of the police response as it details how to configure a NanoStation , a device for wireless communication widely used in alternative networks and to connect to the Telecommunications Company of Cuba’s (ETECSA) wifi service, which is now available in more than one hundred plazas and parks in the country.
NanoStations have never been marketed in state stores, but are offered in the informal market at prices ranging from 180 to 250 Cuban convertible pesos (roughly the same in dollars). Bringing them into the country is regulated by the General Customs of the Republic, which requires the traveler to show authorization for the device from the Ministry of Communications.
Last November, Gámez was detained for seven days along with other members of the movement, after being arrested when he tried to participate in Academy 1010, a civic development initiative promoted by Somos+.
According to a report released Monday by the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, there have been 478 arbitrary arrests against dissidents. The independent entity also denounces the “seizures of their means of labor (laptops, cameras, mobile phones, etc.).”
