MIAMI, United States. – Cuban prison authorities this Wednesday prevented the transfer to Camagüey of journalist Henry Constantín, held in the El Vivac detention center, in the Arroyo Naranjo municipality, according to reported the reporter himself in a phone call to the independent media outlet he directs, Cuba Time.
Constatín has been detained since December 19, when State Security agents argued the violation of a “legal control” that weighs on him in Camagüey and would prohibit his stay in the Cuban capital. Although the authorities had indicated that they would return him to his province of residence as soon as there was fuel, the transfer has not taken place and the detention continues without clear definitions.
Henry Constantín, also regional vice president for Cuba of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), assured on Monday, December 23, that he dedicated his Christmas “to all the political prisoners of Cuba,” while thanking the solidarity expressed on social networks. The IAPA, for its part, demanded the immediate release of its vice president and the end of the persecution against independent journalists on the island.
Last Monday, an appeal for habeas corpus hence Cuba Time considered an “illegal and arbitrary” detention. Meanwhile, the regime reiterated that the transfer to Camaguey It would depend on the availability of fuel, although the bus destined for that purpose left this Wednesday without the detainee.
According to statements collected by Cuba TimeConstantín was initially interrogated by “six agents of the Cuban regime, such as the head of the Havana region, Lieutenant Colonel Alejandro; the second from Counterintelligence, and three more agents, identified as Yunior, Rodrigo and Pablo.”
The transit prison known as El Vivac is characterized by its secrecy, and not even the media’s collaborators have been given information about the conditions in which the journalist is found.
Cuba Time reiterated this Wednesday its demand for the immediate release of Henry Constantin and the cessation of harassment against independent journalists, who continue to denounce mobility restrictions and arbitrary arrests in different parts of the country.
