Havana/“Eddy Ceballos sends greetings to everyone, he knows he is not alone,” wrote his mother Marieta Pérez after seeing him this Tuesday, after days of uncertainty. He messagebrief and crossed by the usual difficulties – blackouts, poor connection, the impossibility of recording a video –, confirms that the creator of the humorous channel Despingovery Channel remains under the control of the authorities.
The case of Ceballos joins that of Jonais Antony Arenas Fernández, a 23-year-old young man from Havana who was searched by his family in hospitals and police stations while, according to Alas Tensas, based on complaints spread on social networkswas detained. Also that of Kamil Zayas Pérez, member of the audiovisual project El4ticoimprisoned for four months in Holguín. The young man sent a letter from prison this Tuesday, in which he denounces that Cuba lives under a regime that has suspended “the right to be happy” and “the full enjoyment of freedom.”
The three episodes, with different profiles, portray the detention of citizens without clear information, without reliable institutional channels for families and with an opacity that turns any arrest or imprisonment into an area of uncertainty and anguish.
Ceballos’s mother says goodbye “from Despingolandia and Apagonia”, in a reference to the humorous and critical universe created by her son
Ceballos was arrested on June 1, after posting a video on his channel in which he toured an abandoned military installation. In the materialwith its usual satirical tone, as if it were a Discovery Channel documentary, the creator showed remains of war infrastructure, radars, bunkers and military scrap, without revealing the exact location of the place. Shortly after, he was arrested near his home.
The version that has circulated among family members and activists points to an accusation for an alleged “invasion of military property.” Independent legal organizations have warned that this figure does not appear as a crime in Cuban criminal legislation, which reinforces that the arrest was made arbitrarily. Until now, the authorities have not offered a transparent public explanation about the charges, the process or the measure imposed against Ceballos.
His mother, who in recent days had promised to provide details on video, explained that she had not been able to do so due to electrical and connection difficulties. “All of us here know what is happening with the light and the connection,” he wrote. Even so, he confirmed that he was able to see it and that he sent greetings to those who have followed the case. “And I, his mother, too,” he added, before saying goodbye “from Despingolandia and Apagonia,” in a reference to the humorous and critical universe created by his son.
The complaint described what happened as “a total lack of respect” due to the pilgrimage of the relatives from one place to another while the authorities denied or confused the information about their whereabouts.
The case of Jonais Antony Arenas Fernández had another journey, but ended up pointing to the same problem. The young man, a resident of Santos Suárez and a cafeteria worker, had been reported missing since Friday. According to his mother’s initial testimony, he was detained near Capri, in Havana, when he was looking for merchandise. The alleged reason would have been an unpaid fine.
The family received a call from Jonais at 12:20 in the morning from a police unit. In that communication, the young man said that he had to pay 4,000 pesos for the fine. However, when his relatives came to look for him, they were told that he had never been detained there. The contradiction turned the arrest into a de facto disappearance for the family, who began visiting hospitals and police stations without receiving a clear answer.
The communicator Niover Licea reported in your Facebook page that Jonais was indeed detained and was recently released. The complaint described what happened as “a total lack of respect” due to the pilgrimage of the relatives from one place to another while the authorities denied or confused the information about their whereabouts.
In the text, Zayas accuses the regime of having caused “a setback of 67 years for Cuba”
Kamil Zayas Pérez, on the other hand, remains imprisoned. Member of El4ticoan independent audiovisual project that emerged in Holguín, was arrested on February 6 along with Ernesto Ricardo Medina, in an operation that included raids and the seizure of work equipment. Since then, his case has become another symbol of the offensive against young people who use the networks to document the country’s crisis and question power.
Four months after his imprisonment, Zayas made public a statement written from prison. In the text, he accuses the regime of having caused “a setback of 67 years for Cuba” and of perpetuating itself in power “over a pile of corpses and a sea of blood.” The statement, released by people close to the activist, is accompanied by a logo that, as they explained, the young man had been thinking about before his imprisonment.
“We, young people, feel within the present and we will bear the consequences and assume the responsibilities of the time that belongs to us,” wrote Zayas. “If the right to be happy, the full enjoyment of freedom, the desire to meet and the willpower to do and say are suspended, we are being slaves,” he added.
The El4tico member closes with a direct appeal to dignity and popular sovereignty: “Because a revolution is not only a right, but also a duty of citizens if circumstances impose it.”
