Cuba: Independent Journalist Henry Constantín Detained
Cuba: Independent Journalist Henry Constantín Detained
Photo: Independent journalist Henry Constantín. H. CONSTANTÍN/FACEBOOK.
Since September 16, according to La Hora de Cuba, the independent newspaper directed by Constantín, journalist Henry Constantín was initially reported missing, with his whereabouts unknown. It was later confirmed that he was being held at Villa María Luisa, the State Security operations and interrogation headquarters in Camagüey.
ONTARIO, CANADA — September 22, 2026. The harassment and persecution of independent journalists remains part of a systematic pattern of restrictions on freedom of expression and press freedom in Cuba. The latest monitoring by the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press (ICLEP) provides further evidence of this pattern. In a report published on September 21, ICLEP documented 123 violations of freedom of expression and press during August 2026, including 17 cases involving journalists. It also recorded 12 incidents in which journalistic coverage itself triggered repression and 26 arbitrary detentions. State Security was identified as the leading institutional perpetrator, accounting for 36 of the 86 incidents for which an institutional perpetrator was documented.
Against this backdrop, Democratic Spaces condemns the arbitrary detention of Henry Constantín, director of the independent newspaper La Hora de Cuba and regional vice president of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), who has now been detained for five days at Villa María Luisa, the State Security operations and interrogation headquarters in Camagüey.
Constantín was detained after appearing in response to a second police summons and is reportedly accused of “disobedience” for failing to appear for an earlier summons on September 9. His lawyer has challenged the legality of his detention through a habeas corpus petition, arguing that Cuban criminal procedure provides only for a fine for failure to respond to an initial summons and that Constantín did appear when subsequently summoned. Authorities have reportedly ordered him held in pretrial detention, while his defense attorney has faced obstacles in obtaining access to the case file, limiting her ability to examine the charges and prepare his defense.
The Inter American Press Association has described Constantín’s detention as part of a broader pattern of summonses, surveillance, detention, and house arrest directed against him and other independent journalists. Democratic Spaces calls for Henry Constantín’s immediate release and an end to the persecution and criminalization of independent journalism in Cuba.
Sources
Civil Rights Defenders. “Civil Rights Defender of the Year Henry Constantin Detained in Cuba.” September 18, 2026. Civil Rights Defender of the Year Henry Constantin Detained in Cuba
14ymedio. “Dictan prisión preventiva a Henry Constantín, detenido en la sede de la Seguridad del Estado en Camagüey.” September 21, 2026.
Lima, Michael. “Two Years of Injustice: Standing Against the Arbitrary Arrest of Cuban Journalist Yuri Valle Roca.” Democratic Spaces, June 15, 2023. Democratic Spaces article.
Martí Noticias, “Imponen prisión preventiva al periodista independiente cubano Henry Constantín.” September 21, 2026.
Instituto Cubano por la Libertad de Expresión y Prensa (ICLEP). “123 violaciones a la libertad de expresión y de prensa en Cuba durante agosto de 2026: La represión modula su intensidad tras el pico de julio y el abuso del poder estatal crece un 152,6 % en un año.” September 21, 2026. ICLEP report