“They shouted some insults,” said Mike Hammer, but “they do not represent the Cuban people”
14ymedio, Havana, February 1, 2026 – Mike Hammer, the United States chargé d’affaires in Havana, was subjected to an act of repudiation this Saturday outside a private guesthouse in the city of Camagüey, about 500 kilometers from the Cuban capital. The incident became public through a video posted on the Facebook profile of a government sympathizer who publishes only official events and commemorations on his page.
Those involved were men and women shouting “down with the blockade,” “puppets of Donald Trump,” “murderer,” “genocidal,” and “bootlickers.” The slogans are identical to those used by Cuba’s propaganda apparatus in acts of harassment against opponents and dissidents, as well as in marches and rallies convened by the Communist Party.
The street where the incident occurred was dark. For more than a year, the country has been suffering prolonged scheduled blackouts lasting more than 10 hours. Those staging the harassment shouted “they come to see the blackouts,” blaming the government represented by Hammer. The individuals approached the entrance of the guesthouse but did not attempt to cross the threshold of the tourist building.
Last Wednesday, Yoani Sánchez, director of 14ymedio, and Reinaldo Escobar, a columnist for this outlet, were detained and forced to return to their home by a guard stationed at the ground floor of the building where they live in Havana. The visibly nervous agent, who followed Sánchez, was unable to give the address of the place where he had encountered her, and she managed to walk several blocks before reinforcements arrived, including another agent who identified himself with an ID from the DSE (Department of State Security) and two women dressed in civilian clothes.
“The illegitimate Cuban regime must immediately cease its repressive acts of sending individuals to interfere with the diplomatic work of the Chargé d’Affaires”
Sánchez and her husband were on their way to a meeting at Hammer’s residence. They had been invited to the start of the celebrations for the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. At the same time, other political activists and opposition figures such as Boris González, Berta Soler, Ángel Moya, Manuel Cuesta Morúa, Marthadela Tamayo, Camila Acosta, Ángel Santiesteban, and Dagoberto Valdés were forced to remain inside their homes, without any judicial order.
Between Havana and Washington there has been an increase in hostile rhetoric following the removal of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their residence in Caracas, where they were sleeping surrounded by a guard of Cuban military personnel, 32 of whom were killed in the capture operation. Authorities on the island have spent four consecutive Saturdays calling for military exercises in anticipation of a possible similar action by the United States.
Such hostility, however, contrasts with the tour the head of the U.S. diplomatic mission has been making through central Cuba, where he is generally warmly received by residents. On the U.S. Embassy’s social media, Hammer said with a smile that “they yelled a few insults” at him and that he believes they came from people who “belong to ‘a certain party’ ” and who “do not represent the Cuban people.”
In the statement, Hammer films himself with a mobile phone from a rooftop and says he is in the city of Trinidad, traveling around the island, “getting to know more everyday Cubans,” with whom he has “been talking about their aspirations for a better Cuba.”
The U.S. Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs warned this Sunday on X that “the illegitimate Cuban regime must immediately cease its repressive acts of sending individuals to interfere with the diplomatic work of Chargé d’Affaires Hammer and members of the Embassy team. Our diplomats will continue meeting with the Cuban people, despite the regime’s failed tactics of intimidation.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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