Camila Acosta's Forced Disappearance Sparks Outrage

Independent journalist Camila Acosta, a reporter for CubaNet and correspondent for the Spanish newspaper ABC in Havana, was apprehended on Tuesday by State Security agents while she was on her way to a veterinary appointment with her cat. The arrest took place near her home in the Plaza de la Revolución municipality. Her whereabouts have been unknown since.

According to a report by CubaNet, agents handcuffed Acosta and forcibly placed her into a police vehicle in front of several neighbors who questioned the actions. The cat was left on the street until a neighbor took it in. Her family has received no contact, nor have any formal charges been communicated.

Writer and former political prisoner Ángel Santiesteban-Prats, who is Acosta's husband, visited multiple police stations without receiving any information. "They were hunting her at the corner to abduct her," he stated. He also mentioned that officials described the journalist as "a decent person," but blamed her for an unverified incident involving a revolutionary's family member, without detailing any formal charges.

CubaNet demanded to know Acosta's location and called for her immediate release, urging her supporters to contact police stations to demand information. Claudia Padrón, the chief editor, emphasized the importance of international visibility to protect the journalist, asserting that public pressure should increase the cost of keeping her detained.

"We condemn the arbitrary detention of independent journalist Camila Acosta by the Cuban regime. Just a day earlier, authorities arbitrarily and violently detained journalist Adelth Bonne Gamboa and confiscated his equipment. These consecutive attacks are part of a broader effort to silence independent journalism and hide the reality of repression in Cuba," stated Freedom House.

The American NGO continued, "The Cuban authorities must immediately release those detained for their journalistic work and cease harassment, arbitrary detention, and intimidation against independent journalists. Journalism is not a crime."

Just five days prior, a plainclothes agent had prevented Acosta from leaving her home without showing a warrant or identifying himself. Acosta recorded the incident. In September, both she and her husband were detained to prevent them from attending activist Anna Bensi's trial. The Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and Press (ICLEP) documented surveillance and monitoring around her home in August and September.

The timing of her arrest is particularly telling: on the same day, the People's Municipal Court of Diez de Octubre set a trial date for November 5th against Santiesteban and three other Masonic leaders on charges of illegal currency trafficking, suggesting a coordinated regime effort against the couple. In September, Santiesteban was elected Sovereign Grand Commander of the 33rd Degree Supreme Council of Cuban Masonry and had met with the head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Cuba weeks earlier to discuss the Masons' role in distributing American humanitarian aid.

Acosta has a long history of facing repression. She was arrested on July 12, 2021, a day after reporting on the 11J protests, and spent four days in jail before being placed under house arrest for over ten months. Her case concluded in May 2022 with a fine of 1,000 Cuban pesos. In April 2024, she was detained in Cárdenas, Matanzas, while visiting families of political prisoners. Acosta herself declared in 2022 that she had been detained approximately twenty times throughout her career and has been "regulated" — barred from leaving the country — since 2019.

CubaNet reiterated that Acosta "is not alone" and urged continued pressure until her whereabouts are known and she is released.