Jorge Fernández Era Summoned by State Security for Interrogation at Villa Marista

The Cuban writer and journalist Jorge Fernández Era has been summoned by State Security for an "interview" at their notorious headquarters, known as Villa Marista, in Havana. Harassed for years due to his critical stance against the Cuban regime, the intellectual had never been interrogated at the State Security's central office, a detention center with a dreadful reputation among Cuban dissidents and opponents who have been detained there.

Fernández Era acknowledged this in a social media post, where he sarcastically considered it a "tremendous honor" that Cuban repressors have increased their pressure on him, compelling him to appear at the infamous torture center. "Today [Tuesday], I received one of many summonses. This time—what a tremendous honor—it's for Villa Marista. I must be there tomorrow [Wednesday] at 8:00 am, with the undefeated Lieutenant Colonel Kenia as my host," the writer explained on Facebook.

Fernández Era attributed the summons to his recent resignation from the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), a gesture of solidarity after the expulsion of professor and academic Alina Bárbara López Hernández from the organization. "It is clear that the State Security's siege is tightening around us. The expulsion of Alina Bárbara López Hernández from UNEAC and my subsequent resignation, along with the combative declaration published in Granma under the title 'The Brave and the Cowards,' are all too recent," the journalist remarked, referring to an editorial by the official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba, which indirectly targeted both intellectuals.

Aware of the danger to his physical integrity due to the escalating harassment and threats, Fernández Era reiterated the intention of Cuban repressors to accuse them of common crimes to silence and discredit critical voices denouncing the violation of rights and freedoms by the totalitarian Cuban regime. "The issue is that they can't find a way to close our files to prosecute us for whatever is most convenient, always under the premise that we are not prisoners of conscience, but common criminals," he noted.

The interrogation scheduled for Wednesday, September 18 "is not coincidental," observed Fernández Era, who, along with López Hernández, has been under surveillance for months to prevent them from carrying out their monthly civic action on the 18th of each month, demanding the release of political prisoners and the resignation of senior regime officials. "I am aware of the risks my 61 years and my health face if tomorrow's stint extends beyond the record eleven hours that last month's excursion to Santiago de las Vegas constituted, but I do not fear them or the consequences of my actions. I am and will be free, that is a happiness that neither inquisitors nor abjects can take away from me," the writer declared.

Lieutenant Colonel Kenia María Morales Larrea is notorious for her repression and harassment of artists, journalists, and cultural activists. A post by the NGO Cubalex identified her as "the instructor in the case against artists like Tania Bruguera" and the officer in charge of the "process against Carolina Barrero." She has also been exposed as a repressor of visual artists and regime critics, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, leader of the San Isidro Movement and political prisoner of the Cuban regime, and Hamlet Lavastida, a talented young man forced into exile after being detained and interrogated for weeks at Villa Marista.