In March, three independent journalists — Yoani Sánchez, Camila Acosta and Mabel Páez — reported being placed under police surveillance or subjected to a form of de facto house arrest after covering protests linked to the worsening energy crisis on the island. These clearly arbitrary restrictions are hindering the essential public-interest work carried out by news professionals.
On 9 March, Camila Acosta, correspondent for the Spanish daily ABC and the news portal Cubanet, raised the alarm on social media about State Security agents stationed near the University of Havana who allegedly prevented her from covering a student sit-in demanding the resumption of university classes, which had been suspended due to prolonged electricity cuts. She reported a second operation outside her home on 10 March, and a third on 15 March, stating that security agents were surrounding her residence in Havana, the Cuban capital.
Also on 15 March, the director of the independent outlet 14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, reported on social media that a plain-clothes State Security agent prevented her from leaving her building in Havana without presenting any form of identification or judicial order. The same day, journalist Mabel Páez, director of the local print media outlet El Majadero de Artemisa, was informed by local authorities in the city of Artemisa, southwest of Havana, that she was forbidden from leaving her home “until further notice,” threatening punitive action if she did not comply, according to information confirmed by the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press (ICLEP).
“The use of police surveillance and arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement to prevent journalists from leaving their homes is a form of prior censorship intended to prevent coverage of events of public interest. At a time when Cubans are facing a major energy crisis and growing social unrest, it is essential that independent journalists are able to work freely. RSF calls on the Cuban authorities to immediately put an end to these practices and ensure that reporters can carry out their work without intimidation or arbitrary restrictions.
Prolonged power outages and a worsening economic and energy crisis across Cuba, have prompted repeated protests in several provinces in the country. RSF has already documented how the Cuban authorities resort to surveillance, arbitrary detentions and short-term house arrests to prevent journalists from covering social unrest, particularly since the crackdown that followed the protests of 11 July 2021.
In recent years, pressure on the independent press has intensified even further, as demonstrated by the forced exile of independent journalist José Luis Tan Estrada at the end of 2024 and the adoption of the 2024 Social Communication Law, which has strengthened state control over the media and online expression. Cuba ranks among the worst countries and territories in the world for press freedom in the RSF World Press Freedom Index. The island remains one of the most restrictive environments for journalism in Latin America, where independent reporters face harassment, surveillance and the constant threat of detention or exile.
