His arrest coincided with the funerals of the soldiers killed in Venezuela and a large police deployment in Havana.
14ymedio, Havana, 17 January 2026 — Independent journalist Henry Constantín, director of the digital news outlet La Hora de Cuba, was released this Friday after being detained and held incommunicado for 44 hours by State Security. He described the incident as “arbitrary” and “unjustified.” For nearly two days, neither his family nor his colleagues knew his whereabouts, in yet another case of enforced disappearance against a member of the critical press in Cuba.
Constantín was arrested in Havana amid a large police operation linked to the official funeral of 32 Cuban soldiers killed in Venezuela, an event the regime turned into a political demonstration and a show of control. According to the journalist himself after his release, his presence in the capital was used as a pretext to detain him, without a warrant, without a formal explanation, and without access to a lawyer.
“They took me to a cell and I simply disappeared,” the journalist recounted in a message posted on his social media. During that time, he was unable to communicate with anyone, and the authorities offered no information about his legal status. The official silence contrasted sharply with the swift reaction of colleagues and organizations who denounced his disappearance and demanded his release.
“I don’t plan to leave Cuba. I’m going to continue working here, doing journalism for the freedom of Cuba.”
From the outset, La Hora de Cuba reported on the arrest, and its colleague Alejandra García—whom Constantín expressly thanked—documented the case from Havana, keeping the public eye on the situation while the journalist remained incommunicado. Pressure on social media grew as the hours passed without news.
The arrest occurred in a particularly sensitive context for the regime. The transfer and funeral rites for the soldiers killed in Venezuela were accompanied by mobility restrictions, a reinforced police presence, and surveillance of activists and independent journalists.
Constantin has been arrested multiple times, subjected to interrogations, threats, movement restrictions, and constant surveillance. In previous incidents, State Security has attempted to justify its harassment by resorting to ambiguous criminal charges such as “contempt,” frequently used to criminalize critical opinion.
After his release, the journalist not only denounced what had happened, but also took the opportunity to send a direct message to his captors. “I don’t plan to leave Cuba. I’m going to continue working here, doing journalism for the freedom of Cuba,” he stated. This is not the first time the journalist has made clear his decision to remain on the island despite systematic harassment.
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