Miami (September 18, 2023) - The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) condemned the Cuban regime's arbitrary detention of journalist Henry Constantín Ferreiro and demanded his immediate release. It marks the second time this month that the journalist has been detained.
Constantín Ferreiro, the director of La Hora de Cuba magazine in Camagüey, was arrested on September 15 by the Cuban political police, State Security, during the inauguration of the G77+China Summit in Havana.
In a phone call, Constantín Ferreiro stated that the authorities detained him for "being in Havana illegally" and that he would be returned to Camagüey "within fifteen days if transportation becomes available." Constantín Ferreiro is the regional vice president of the IAPA's Commission on Freedom of the Press and Information.
IAPA President and Global Head of Licensing and print Innovation for The New York Times, Michael Greenspon, and the chairman of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information and the Editor of La Voz del Interior newspaper in Argentina, Carlos Jornet, criticized that the regime continues to detain, harass, and surveil independent journalists. "We strongly condemn Henry's detention and demand his immediate release."
This is the second time in a month that the regime has arrested Constantín Ferreiro. On September 4, he was detained in Camagüey along with another independent journalist, José Luis Tan of Diario de Cuba, while trying to cover the trial of activist Ienelis Delgado Cue.
Journalist Neife Rigau, a La Hora de Cuba contributor, received a summons from State Security for an "interview" on September 17. She stated that the regime constantly monitors, pursues, and disrupts her internet connection.
The report on Cuba presented at the IAPA's mid-year meeting last April noted: "The repression against journalists and independent media continues to be carried out with two hands by the Communist Party and the Ministry of the Interior. However, the number of attacks dropped, not because of a change in official strategy but because dozens of reporters left the country. The gag against freedom of the press and expression is rooted in the Penal Code, the Associations Law, Law 88, the Constitution, and specific decrees."
IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.
