Arrested and interrogated by State Security at the end of January, Yadiel Hernández is being held in Combinado del Sur prison.
14ymedio, Havana, April 10, 2025 — The Facebook profile of Yadiel Hernández Hernández, known as Kakashi, only returns this message to visitors: “no posts available.” The contents of the account have been deleted following the arrest, on January 24, of the young man who, at the time of his arrest, was investigating for 14ymedio the drug trafficking at the pre-university school in the city of Matanzas.
Kakashi, a 33-year-old designer, graduate in theological studies and freelance reporter, is being held at the Combinado del Sur prison, where overcrowding and allegations of abuse against inmates are constant. He arrived at that prison after being arrested almost three months ago and spending several weeks under interrogation by State Security. Hernández is now charged with the alleged crime of “propaganda against the constitutional order.”
Under the current Penal Code, offenses against the constitutional order include penalties such as deprivation of liberty, life imprisonment and even the death penalty, for those who take up arms to change the Constitution or impede the functioning of the authorities. Kakashi, on the other hand, was only investigating the spread of the drug scourge among teenagers, a journalistic work that would help save lives.
All attempts by this newspaper to contact the family of Hernández have been unsuccessful
At the end of January, communication between our editorial staff and Hernández was cut off. At first, the silence was blamed on the long electrical cuts that hit the Island during those days and also caused frequent internet connection failures. However, a few weeks later, a source close to Kakashi’s family confirmed his arrest. “They arrested him and took him away.”
All attempts by this newspaper to contact Hernández’s family, to get details of his current situation and the date of his trial, have been unsuccessful. Within the Combinado del Sur, Hernández’s possibilities of communicating with the outside world are limited, and at this time the independent journalist has not been able to contact legal advisory organizations or press media.
“He was detained for several days in Versalles [headquarters of the State Security operations center in Matanzas],” the source says. ” He was taken away after the incident that occurred with an alleged gas leak in the pre-university,” he adds, referring to an accident at the José Luis Dubrocq High School. There was at first a strong smell, and several students experienced nausea and discomfort, with some even having to be hospitalized.
Although the official version of the incident blamed a student who sprayed pepper spray on a teacher’s motorcycle and caused the substance to be inhaled, the incident fueled rumors about drug use in the pre-university and the sale of such substances inside the school. “The police questioned people who could report what had really happened, and that same January 24th, they took away Kakashi, who had been investigating the trafficking network for a long time.
All indications are that the best way to help him at this time is to post about what happened
After learning these details, this newspaper has weighed whether a public complaint could make matters worse or help to make the case more visible. Finally, after hearing the opinions of several friends of Hernández, everything indicates that the best way to help him at this time is to publish what happened, so that his case reaches the international organizations that ensure the protection of journalists and freedom of the press.
“He has always been a person who is very critical about everything he sees that is bad, someone with a lot of civic conscience,” points out one friend of Kakashi’s, who fears that “he will stay in prison for many years, because they will make him pay for his attitude, his rebellion and his ability to uncover a whole plot that is affecting the young people, almost children, of this pre-university and other parts of the city of Matanzas.”
Repression against independent reporters has been a constant in recent decades in Cuba, but it intensified following the Island-wide popular protests of 11 July 2021, when the independent media reported on the scale and desire for political change that marked the demonstrations. The new Cuban Social Communication Law, which came into force on October 4, has been a turning point in the censorship. Journalists working outside the official media report an increase in threats and pressures.
Another collaborator of ’14ymedio,’ José Gabriel Barrenechea, has been in prison for five months
In addition to this legislation, both the Penal Code and Decree Law 370 create a gag on the press. The Law of Social Communication only recognizes media linked to the government and marginalizes all independent platforms, many of them also blocked on national servers. The arrest of reporters, confiscation of their technological devices and prison sentences are also part of the repressive scheme against the free flow of information.
Another collaborator of 14ymedio, José Gabriel Barrenechea, has been in prison for five months awaiting trial for participating in the protests on November 8 at Encrucijada, Villa Clara. A few weeks ago, the journalist sent a strong message: “No one can ask me to feel positive about a political system, institutions and leadership that are ultimately responsible for this hell my life has been reduced to,” he told the independent newspaper CubaNet from the La Pendiente prison.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, the Inter-American Press Association, Article 19, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations have repeatedly warned of the use of the law to limit freedom of expression and access to information in Cuba.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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