“If you distribute the bulletin, the next time I call, kiss your wife on the belly, because you’re going to prison.”
14ymedio, Havana, July 15, 2026 – Austin Llerandi, director of the community news outlet Amanecer Habanero [Havana Sunrise] was threatened with imprisonment by a State Security agent during an interrogation this Tuesday at a police station in Marianao, Havana. The Cuban Observatory for Freedom of Expression (OCLE), part of the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and Press (ICLEP), reported that the officer, identified as Rodrigo, warned the journalist that he would be jailed if he continued distributing the publication.
“If you distribute the bulletin, the next time I call, kiss your wife on the belly, because you’re going to prison,” the agent threatened at the end of the interrogation, which lasted more than an hour, according to Llerandi’s testimony.
The journalist said that during the summons, the officer showed him a criminal investigation file opened in his name for alleged crimes against State Security, as well as the latest edition of Amanecer Habanero stored on his mobile phone.
According to OCLE, the threat also extends to the rest of the team, as the agent said the authorities “know the addresses and movements of the publication’s journalists” and warned that they could face consequences if they continued taking part in distributing the publication.
On Monday, the same officer went to Austin Llerandi’s father’s home to locate him
According to the observatory, the harassment began one day before the interrogation. On Monday, the same officer went to Austin Llerandi’s father’s home looking for him. According to the organization’s account, the agent said that although he knew the journalist’s address, he had not acted against him because of his wife’s pregnancy. During that meeting with the father, he claimed to know how often the couple goes to the hospital for medical checkups.
For ICLEP, the explicit reference to the journalist’s wife’s pregnancy and the surveillance of his family constitute a form of psychological pressure intended to discourage him from continuing his journalistic work.
The organization described these actions as an attempt to prevent the practice of independent journalism on the Island and argued that they constitute violations of freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and the rule of law.
For that reason, it reported that the case has been added to its monitoring system for violations of freedom of expression and concluded that the use of prison threats, the display of a criminal case file, and surveillance of the journalist’s family are part of a pattern of intimidation against independent journalists in Cuba.
OCLE demanded that the Cuban Government “immediately cease the threats and harassment against Austin Llerandi”
OCLE demanded that the Cuban Government “immediately cease the threats and harassment against Austin Llerandi and the Amanecer Habanero team,” as well as provide guarantees that they can carry out their journalistic work without reprisals. It also urged United Nations human rights mechanisms, international rapporteurs, democratic governments, and organizations that defend freedom of expression to monitor the case and hold the regime accountable.
It also called for “an end to the use of the criminal justice and police apparatus against the publication’s director, including summonses and the display of criminal investigation files as a form of coercion,” as well as an end to surveillance of the director’s family, including his father and his pregnant wife.
The regime’s harassment of independent journalists and activists has increased in recent months. ICLEP itself documented 1,188 violations of freedom of expression and press freedom in Cuba during 2025, making it one of the most repressive years recorded by the organization.
According to the organization’s annual report published last June, the total represents a 54.7% increase over 2024, when 768 violations were recorded. On average, the Cuban regime committed 99 attacks per month against the exercise of freedom of expression, with a peak of 184 cases in July, the most repressive month of the past three years.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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