Cuban detention of El4tico founders sparks US and human‑rights condemnation

Kamil Zayas Pérez and Ernesto Ricardo Medina, the founders of the independent Cuban audiovisual project El4tico, were arrested on 6 February 2026 in Holguín, Cuba. State Security and police seized their equipment and charged them with propaganda against the constitutional order and incitement to commit crimes, offenses that carry up to nine years in prison. They have been held for six months without a prosecutor’s petition, a court date, or a habeas corpus hearing, prompting serious due‑process concerns.

The United States Department of State issued a statement condemning the detention, calling it “unjust” and urging the immediate release of the two journalists and all political prisoners in Cuba. Human‑rights organization Cubalex echoed these concerns, documenting procedural irregularities such as the lack of a search‑warrant review and the denial of legal oversight, and demanding their release under international standards.