Cuban Independent Journalist Yunia Figueredo's Daughter Targeted by Regime Harassment

On Friday, Cuban independent journalist Yunia Figueredo revealed that State Security agents appeared the day before at the Faculty of Foreign Languages (FLEX) at the University of Havana (UH) — where her daughter Beily Mariam Correa is enrolled — to investigate her registration. Additionally, on September 4, the local police chief visited Figueredo's residence to impose a new precautionary measure in an ongoing case accusing her of inciting protests in Jaimanitas.

In a public statement addressed to the international community, Figueredo detailed the two incidents occurring within a 24-hour period: "Two State Security officers showed up at the foreign languages university, FLEX, investigating my daughter Beily Mariam Correa's enrollment at that institution."

The new precautionary measure requires the journalist to report to the police station to sign on the 10th of each month.

Growing Intimidation from Authorities

Before leaving her home, the police officer issued a stark warning, which Figueredo quoted verbatim: he commanded her to maintain "zero contact with the American embassy [in the USA]" and to "think about her daughters."

Journalist Yoe Suárez noted on Facebook that the inquiry into Beily Mariam's enrollment might have been triggered by her involvement in a dissident art exhibition organized by the United States Embassy in Havana.

Suárez also mentioned that even before this Friday, Figueredo had already been summoned by political police, indicating that harassment escalated in the days leading up to the imposition of the new measure.

Resisting a Sustained Campaign of Harassment

Figueredo contextualized these events as part of ongoing repression: "This new repressive measure is part of the wave of repression the regime has unleashed on my family and our journalistic work, freedom of expression, and human rights advocacy since March. But we make it clear that no intimidation will stop us in this fight my husband, our daughter, and I are engaged in to see the bright day of freedom."

The harassment against Figueredo and her husband, also an independent journalist, Frank Correa, intensified in March 2026, when she was detained in Jaimanitas following her participation in a protest against power outages, an operation conducted in front of their young daughters.

On July 2, 2026, Figueredo and Correa were detained again in Jaimanitas while heading to a reception at the United States Embassy. According to the Cuban Observatory for Freedom of Expression (ICLEP), they were stopped without a warrant, taken by police and State Security agents to the station at Third and 110 in Playa, interrogated, and held for several hours. In subsequent months, ICLEP documented further summonses, interrogations, threats, surveillance, and mobility restrictions against the couple.

Jaimanitas has emerged as a hotbed of protest in Havana during 2026, with recurring demonstrations sparked by power outages lasting over 24 hours and shortages of water and food. At the end of August, residents blocked Fifth Avenue due to a prolonged blackout, and shortly after, Figueredo reported a military presence in the neighborhood out of fear of new protests.

Repression Through Familial Threats

The pressure on relatives of journalists, activists, and dissidents is part of what Cubalex has identified as "repression by association," a strategy where authorities extend threats, surveillance, and other retaliations to the family and support networks of individuals deemed critical of the government. In a June 2026 analysis, the organization described this practice as a systematic and selective pattern of repression.

The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH), meanwhile, documented at least 1,949 repressive actions between January and June of 2026, with independent journalists among the most affected, accounting for 91 cases.