“Goodbye to my Cuba, to my friends, to my family”, thus begins the youtuber Hilda Núñez Díaz, known as hildinaa message sent to his followers on the networks. The young woman, from Santiago de Cuba, had been under siege and pressure from State Security for weeks and, finally, she left the Island “for political reasons,” she says.
“All this time that I had to wait to leave the country, it was not easy for me. Each day that passed became anguish,” Nuñez details, although he does not specify the country where he is currently located. In an emotional video, hildina It shows his last days on the Island, especially the farewell to his family and friends.
Last March, hildina passed more than seven hours detained in Santiago de Cuba. Some 30 police officers blocked access to the block where the young woman lived, broke into her house, arrested her and, after conducting a search, seized her phone and her computer.
Hours later, the official page of the youtuber reported: “ hildina She is already at home, she was fined and threatened, according to them (the Cuban regime) ‘for using social networks to discredit the Government,’ and they made threats of all kinds as they well know how to do.”
“She has no way to communicate because they kept all her devices (cell phone, laptop, etc.),” the publication added. “She is feeling very bad psychologically after everything she was put through and being treated like a criminal. Thank you to everyone who has shared what happened with her. Do not stop doing it.”
Last March, Hildina spent more than seven hours detained in Santiago de Cuba. Some 30 police officers blocked access to the block where the young woman lived
Weeks before, the young woman had recorded a video where she gave an account of the threats to which she was being subjected by the political police of the regime, who had prohibited her from “recording in Havana.”
“They know absolutely everything,” she denounced, alluding to the blackmail of the agents, who announced that they were going to “complicate her life” and reminded her that she was the mother of a small child. “Where is the freedom of speech?” she demanded. “They don’t want the reality of Cuba to be known.”
So, Núñez continued to work on his YouTube channel despite the media campaign that the regime launched against him. A Facebook profile related to the ruling party, Mercenarios en la mira, tried to discredit the young woman. He accused her of “hypocrisy,” of “manipulating the reality” of Cubans, and of “selling herself as a good Samaritan.”
The same profile spread, a few minutes before the arrest of hildinaother post. They described her, openly, as a “terrorist”, a “simulator with proven ties to those who from the US finance and incite violent actions in our national territory.” They also mention her alleged links with the businessman Manuel Milanés and the youtuber Ultrack.
“In back of hildina and his ‘harmless’ videos is the same strategy that ‘gave birth’ to the most rancid and violent of the mercenaries based in the US today”, snapped Mercenarios en la mira.
The Cuban regime has tightened its repressive measures against activists and opponents residing on the island
In a transmission, on March 5, hildina He claimed to have received the sum of 34,000 pesos – around $200 – from a subscriber to his channel residing in Germany. With that money, she took to the streets to buy food and deliver it to various disadvantaged people in Santiago de Cuba. In her own video, the young woman exposed that State Security had prevented her from recording in a city market and that a woman had rebuked her calling her an “oppositionist.”
The complaint about the arrest of Núñez caused a wave of outrage among users. “Its contents only speak of the daily life of Cubans and it helps many people in need with basic necessities,” said Jonathan Trujillo Pérez. “This is a violation of human rights. Once again, censorship and the lack of freedom of expression are evident.”
The Cuban regime has tightened its repressive measures against activists and opponents residing on the island. Pressing them not to continue publishing content that denies government propaganda is one of the priorities of the political police.
duanys moreno, the young man who reported minute by minute the explosion at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, was harassed by State Security and spent several days subjected to torture and threats. Months later he returned to record from exile. “The most important thing in a fight is to preserve life,” he declared to 14ymedioalluding to the risk faced by youtubers who denounce the crisis in Cuba and the strict surveillance to which they are subjected by the regime.
Ruhama Fernández, also from Santiago, exiled today in Florida, was the victim of harassment and repression by the Political Police, who did not stop pressuring her to stop doing her work on YouTube. The young woman denounced many of the ills of the city and the country, such as the chronic shortage of food and the misery in which many families survive.
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