Journalist José Luis Tan Goes into Exile
MIAMI, United States – Cuban independent journalist José Luis Tan Estrada, a regular contributor to CubaNet, left the island during the last week of December after two years of harassment, surveillance, and threats by State Security.
“I left Cuba under very extreme conditions. I left (…) with my eyes closed and bracing myself for a future… in a land very different from my own (…). State Security forced me to leave Cuba; I left under tremendous pressure,” Tan Estrada emphasized in an interview with Martí Noticias.
“I’ve been under constant pressure from State Security for over two years, ever since I was expelled from the University of Camagüey,” the young journalist added.
The 26-year-old activist is currently in Guyana, according to the media outlet.
Tan Estrada also revealed that his departure followed a failed attempt to travel to Nicaragua on December 25. Despite meeting all the legal requirements to enter the Central American country, the migration authorities under Daniel Ortega’s regime denied him entry. “I lost $5,000 on the ticket because the airline doesn’t refund the money,” the journalist lamented.
Among the acts of harassment that he endured in the past month, Tan Estrada mentioned being forced to strip during a luggage inspection while waiting at the airport. He also reported that a migration officer warned him that, if he returned to the island, “there would be serious consequences” and called him a “little worm.”
In a Facebook post, he expressed sadness at having to spend December 31 away from his family and homeland, and emphasized that the Cuban regime had forced him into exile. “My journalism, my posts on social media, and my denunciations have hit their Achilles’ heel. State Security, with its repressive, low, and dirty methods, has forced me to leave Cuba under extreme circumstances and threats,” he lamented.
He also stated that he would continue practicing journalism and “advocating” for the freedom of political prisoners “without pause.”
The journalist, who was systematically harassed on the island over the past two years, experienced one of his worst detentions on April 26, when he spent several days held at the State Security headquarters, Villa Marista, in Havana.
On that occasion, he was placed in an isolation cell and released with a fine of 4,000 pesos after being threatened.
State Security agents encouraged him to leave the country and accused him of interfering with Cuba’s legal order.
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