Yoani Sanchez, director of 14ymedio, was detained on Wednesday in the street by State Security agents to prevent her from attending a reception at the residence of the US chief of mission in Havana, Mike Hammer. Her husband, Reinaldo Escobar, was also stopped and forced to return home. The incident coincides with the start of celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the United States.
On Wednesday, Yoani Sanchez, director of 14ymedio, was followed for several minutes by a 25-year-old agent without a uniform and with his face partially covered. She managed to communicate with the newsroom in Madrid to explain the situation. The agent called her by name but did not identify himself when she asked, and he called for backup on the phone, though he could not precisely state their location, likely because he was from another province and unfamiliar with Havana.
At the intersection of Ayestaran Avenue and First Street in the Plaza de la Revolucion municipality, the agent intercepted her along with three others: one man and two women. The men showed ID cards with the initials DSE (Department of State Security), but the women never identified themselves. They ordered her to walk back home, with a ban on leaving until the next day, possibly due to a lack of gasoline, Sanchez speculated.
The agents made it clear the operation was to prevent Sanchez and Escobar from reaching the 5:00 p.m. reception at Hammer's residence in the Playa municipality, where special guest Rob Allison, the US Department of State's coordinator for Cuba affairs, was attending. One agent remarked to another: “Of course she was going there, where else would she be going?”.
This echoes recent detentions, such as last Friday in Pinar del Rio, where State Security held Dagoberto Valdes, director of the Convivencia Studies Center, and colleague Yoandy Izquierdo for several hours. They were interrogated by Majors Ernesto and Manuel, who acknowledged the arrests were motivated by Valdes's recent visit to Hammer.
