14ymedio, 20 August 2024 — The historian Alina Bárbara López Hernández and the journalist Jorge Fernández Era were detained this Sunday, once again, by State Security after having “challenged” the home confinement measures that have been arbitrarily imposed on them. The arrests of the Cuban intellectuals were carried out separately as reported by themselves and their relatives on social networks. The journalist was intercepted in the morning as he left his home in Havana. As every 18th of each month, his intention was to protest peacefully for a series of political demands that are part of a list of demands addressed to the Government that he has been defending with López since April 2023.
“Aware that I would not be allowed to go anywhere, I decided to get out and that was enough for them to handcuff me, put me in the car and we moved ‘to Guanabo’, according to information provided to my wife,” he said Monday on his social networks, where he recounted some details of his arrest. Contrary to what was reported to his relatives, he was taken to the Santiago de las Vegas station, where he was forced to remain for eleven hours before being released, which is why he denounces that he was “technically missing” during that period.
Fernández was detained for eleven hours at Santiago de las Vegas station
López was arrested in Matanzas, a few hours later, when she left her home to protest, as she does every 18th of each month just like Fernández, to demand, among other things, freedom for political prisoners and an end to the harassment against people exercising their freedom of expression.
After her release, López took to her social media to give more details of her arrest. She explained that, after her arrest, she was taken to the La Playa station where she was given “a warning for ignoring the precautionary measure of house arrest.” However, she clarified that at no time did she sign the warning by State Security, as she considers the proceedings against her to be “illegitimate.”
López considers the proceedings against her to be illegitimate
In recent months, the repression against both intellectuals has extended to their closest circle, including family and friends. For example, at the end of July, it was known that anthropologist and activist Jenny Pantoja Torres was dismissed from the Miguel Enriquez Faculty at the University of Medical Sciences in Havana for being close to the historian. In April last year, Fernandez accused the regime of retaliating against his son who is serving a sentence for a robbery with violence perpetrated in March 2021.
Translated by LAR
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