{"id":34387,"date":"2023-07-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-11T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/blog\/into-exile-yoel-suarez-6475\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T22:08:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T21:08:27","slug":"into-exile-yoel-suarez-6475","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/blog\/into-exile-yoel-suarez-6475\/","title":{"rendered":"Into Exile: Yoel Su\u00e1rez"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is believed that more than 300,000 people have fled Cuba since nationwide protests swept the country on 11 July 2021. Many of them are religious leaders, journalists, human rights defenders and others who were given no choice but to leave the island under intense pressure from the Cuban government. CSW\u2019s Al exilio<\/a> series tells some of their stories.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yoel Su\u00e1rez is an independent journalist who has written extensively about human rights and freedom of religion or belief issues in Cuba. He has worked with non-state media outlets on the island since 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unsurprisingly, his work has provoked the regular ire of the Cuban government, which has subjected Mr Su\u00e1rez and his family to years of harassment, fines, travel bans and threats, including the threat of the government taking custody of his young son.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

In April 2020, two State Security agents came to his house and showed him printed documents relating to Decree-Law 370, an order which regulates use of the internet, and sections of the Cuban Penal Code relating to \u2018enemy propaganda.\u2019 Mr Su\u00e1rez was threatened with fines and the seizure of his work under Decree-Law 370, and a long prison sentence under the Penal Code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 2 April 2020 Mr Su\u00e1rez\u2019s mother, who has nothing to do with his journalism work, was summoned and interrogated by two State Security agents, who attempted to convince her that her son was on \u2018a bad path\u2019 in the hope that she would pressure him to stop his journalism. On 3 April, she was summoned for a second interrogation, this time at the Siboney Police Station at 10.30am. She was interrogated by two State Security agents identified as Ren\u00e9 and Captain Jorge, the latter of whom is the second in command for the Cuban intelligence agency that handles the independent press. After the interrogation Mr Su\u00e1rez reported to CSW that his mother was very shaken, and he expressed fears for her physical and mental wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2021, Mr Su\u00e1rez\u2019s wife was abruptly summoned by Cuban State Security. Maria Antonieta Colunga Olivera was given three hours\u2019 notice to report to the Immigration Police Station in Nuevo Vedado, where she was interrogated about the work of her husband. Once at the station, two State Security officers informed Mrs Colunga Olivera that they wanted to have a conversation with her about her husband\u2019s work. Mrs Colunga Olivera responded that she was there involuntarily, noting that the summons indicated she could be fined if she did not comply, and that as such this was not a conversation, but an interrogation, and that \u2018whatever they needed to know about my husband, his journalistic work and anything else, it seemed wiser to ask him, that I would only answer questions related to me.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interrogation lasted around 30 minutes, during which the officers asked about her work for the Catholic aid organisation Caritas. They repeatedly asked if she thought her husband\u2019s work as an independent journalist could affect her work or her employer and asked her questions related to her family, including specific questions about the health of her mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mr Su\u00e1rez was regularly summoned and interrogated by police, including on multiple occasions after the 11 July protests. He was warned not to participate in subsequent demonstrations in November 2021, or any \u2018subversive activity\u2019 surrounding International Human Rights Day in December of that year.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

On 9 December 2021, a State Security agent calling himself \u2018Osvaldo,\u2019 threatened to impose criminal charges against Mr Su\u00e1rez for his journalism at the independent news site Diario de Cuba and warned Mr Su\u00e1rez about his status as an employee of a non-state organisation, noting that Mr. Su\u00e1rez had a record with the local police and coujld be charged for the crime of \u2018social dangerousness,\u2019 a pre-emptive charge which applies to individuals who the government think are likely to engage in criminal or anti-social behaviour, but have yet to commit an offence. In practice, this charge is frequently used against critics of the government. Agent \u2018Osvaldo\u2019 also threatened Mr Su\u00e1rez\u2019s family, urging him to think of his son because the police have the legal means to \u201ccatch him out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Su\u00e1rez, whose writing has received international attention and awards, was put under a travel ban in February 2020. In early 2022, he was informed that the travel ban would be lifted temporarily, and he would be allowed to leave, but with the understanding that he would not be permitted to return. Ultimately, at the end of August 2022, Mr Su\u00e1rez left Cuba with his wife and son. They travelled to the United States to start a promotional tour of his latest documentary work \u2018Cuba Crucis\u2019, but also with the intention of seeking asylum in that country through the Cuban Adjustment Law. He continues to monitor and report on FoRB issues in Cuba from exile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This week CSW will be telling the stories of some of those who have fled Cuba since the 11 July protests in our new \u2018Into Exile\u2019 series. Subscribe below so you receive them all.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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