Journalist Yeris Curbelo Aguilera sentenced to 2 years in prison in Cuba

“The Cuban government continues to be nothing short of draconian in its efforts to squash independent reporting on the island,” said CPJ U.S., Canada, and Caribbean Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen in Washington, D.C. “Cuban authorities must release journalist Yeris Curbelo Aguilera and should stop harassing Rafa Escalona.”

Curbelo Aguilera, a 39-year-old journalist and civil rights activist with the non-state media outlet Palenque Visión, was arrested June 16 and released on bail June 18 following a physical altercation with local youths, whom his family alleged were acting as government agents in the confrontation. One of the youths was also prosecuted for the incident but was acquitted at trial, his wife claimed.

The court convicted Curbelo Aguilera of causing “minor injuries” in the incident, according to Cuban local media.

Curbelo Aguilera has stated that he was prosecuted in retaliation for his reporting on anti-government protests in the eastern town of Caimanera in 2023.

In a separate incident, the local music news outlet, Magazine AMPM, announced in an online statement that it was suspending publication and taking “an indefinite pause” due to Cuban counterintelligence agencies “increasing pressure and harassment” of its editor, Rafa Escalona. According to AMPM, Escalona was interrogated and threatened with legal action by Cuban state security agents over grant money recently awarded to the magazine.

In recent years, Cuba’s non-state journalists have come under intense pressure from the government, which does not legally recognize the rights of news outlets outside official state media. Cuban law prohibits news outlets from receiving foreign funding and journalists who receive foreign funding can be accused of an act of “subversion.”

A Cuban government representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment about either case.