Havana/The independent journalist Henry Constantín, director of the digital medium Cuba Timewas released this Friday after spending 44 hours detained and held incommunicado by State Security. The episode was described by himself as “arbitrary” and “without justification.” For almost two days, neither his family nor his colleagues knew of his whereabouts, in a new case of forced disappearance against a professional of the critical press in Cuba.
Constantín was arrested in Havana in the midst of a large police deployment linked to the official funeral of 32 Cuban soldiers killed in Venezuela, an act that the regime turned into a political and control demonstration. According to the journalist himself after being released, his presence in the capital was used as a pretext to detain him, without a court order, without formal explanation and without access to a lawyer.
“They took me to a cell and I simply disappeared,” said the journalist in a message broadcast on their social networks. During that time he was unable to communicate with anyone, and authorities did not offer information about his legal situation. The official silence contrasted with the quick reaction of colleagues and organizations that reported his disappearance and demanded his release.
“I am not planning to leave Cuba. I am going to continue working here, doing journalism for the freedom of Cuba”
From the first moment, Cuba Time warned about the arrest, and his colleague Alejandra García – whom Constantín expressly thanked – documented the case from Havana, maintaining public attention while the journalist remained incommunicado. The pressure on social networks grew as the hours passed without news.
The arrest occurred in a particularly sensitive context for the regime. The transfer and funeral honors of the soldiers who died in Venezuela were accompanied by mobility restrictions, reinforced police presence and surveillance of activists and independent journalists.
Constantín has been detained on multiple occasions, subjected to interrogations, threats, movement restrictions and constant surveillance. In previous episodes, State Security has tried to justify its harassment by resorting to ambiguous criminal figures such as “contempt”, frequently used to criminalize critical opinion.
After his release, the journalist not only reported what happened, but also took the opportunity to send a direct message to his captors. “I am not planning to leave Cuba. I am going to continue working here, doing journalism for the freedom of Cuba,” he stated. This is not the first time that the journalist has made clear his decision to remain on the island despite systematic harassment.
