Eduardo Ceballos' Mother Claims Her Son Faces Espionage Charges and a Possible 30-Year Sentence

The mother of Cuban content creator Eduardo Ceballos, who is known for his satirical channel Despingovery Channel, has raised alarms, stating that her son could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison after being accused of espionage by the Cuban authorities.

Marieta Pérez Alfaro shared her emotional experience of seeing her son detained at the Combinado del Este High Security Prison, where he was taken on June 5.

"When I saw my son enter wearing that strange, oversized, sleeveless shirt—he's small, and his head was shaved... After all the effort it took to see him, it was truly emotional," she told Telemundo 51 from Cuba.

Ceballos was apprehended on June 1 during a police operation in the Diez de Octubre municipality in Havana. The officers did not allow him to enter his home or inform his wife of the arrest.

The incident was triggered by an Instagram video where Ceballos explored an old military site in Havana, which featured Soviet missiles from the 1960s, radars, and Cold War-era bunkers. He described the site as seemingly abandoned.

Initially, the authorities told his family he would be charged with "invading military property." However, the human rights organization Cubalex pointed out that such a charge does not exist in Cuba's Penal or Military Penal Codes, labeling the arrest as a "blatant violation of the principle of legality."

It's now understood that Ceballos could be tried by a military court for "revealing state security secrets," a charge that carries a penalty of up to 30 years.

Escalating Charges and Silencing Dissent

According to his mother, the escalation of charges is simply an attempt by the regime to silence him. "Taking these accusations to such extremes, charging him with espionage, shows they want to silence him and use him as an example," she stated.

Marieta Pérez Alfaro concluded her testimony with the words she shared with her son when she last saw him in prison: "Many times throughout his career, he asked if I was proud of him, and I always said: 'You're doing well, but you have more to do.' This time, when we said goodbye, I told him: 'Now, I am truly proud of you.'"

Ceballos had anticipated his arrest, recording a video weeks in advance with instructions to release it should he be detained. In it, he stated: "If you're watching this video, it means I have been unfortunately imprisoned, taken away from my home, my family, my daughter, once again revealing the true nature of the Cuban government."

After days of negotiations, only his mother and wife, Daniela, were allowed to visit him at Combinado del Este; his father had to remain outside. Marieta recounted that her son described the prison as "the gateway to hell, a place of immense suffering."

The Rise and Impact of Despingovery Channel

Despingovery Channel gained popularity in April 2025 with its nature documentary-style parodies, where Ceballos humorously narrated the potholes, destroyed streets, and ruins of Havana. Since April 2026, he had also been collaborating with the independent Cuban outlet CubaNet.

This case is part of a broader pattern of increasing repression against digital creators in Cuba.

Reporters Without Borders ranks Cuba 160th out of 180 countries in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index, making it the second-worst nation in the Americas. The Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press documented 1,188 violations of freedom of expression in Cuba during 2025, marking a 54.7% increase over the previous year.