‘The government tries to silence the Christian community’ – Yoel’s story

Yoel Suárez, 29, is an independent Cuban journalist. He has worked with non-state media outlets in Cuba since 2014 and has written extensively about human rights and freedom of religion or belief issues. As a result, he and his family have been regularly targeted by authorities. 

The most recent targeting took place in March 2021, when two officials came to his house and asked to talk with him for a few minutes. Mr Suárez was then taken outside the office building near his home belonging to Cuban state enterprise Transtur. There he was shown printed documents relating to Decree-Law 370, an order which regulates use of the internet, and sections of the Cuban Penal Code relating to ‘enemy propaganda.’ According to Suárez, he was threatened with fines and the seizure of his work under Decree-Law 370, and a long prison sentence under the Penal Code.

This is the second ‘visit’ Suárez has received from Cuban State Security operatives in less than a month. On March 27, he was summoned to Siboney Police Station in Havana where he was interrogated by police and threatened with imprisonment and unspecified “repercussions” for his family.

In April 2021, Suárez's mother was interrogated by state security agents, despite having nothing to do with his journalism and working as a translator and interpreter at a Cuban state agency called Cubatur since the 1980s.