Cuba: the forced exile of journalist José Luis Tan Estrada exemplifies the growing crackdown on the press
After years of harassment, surveillance and constant threats from state security due to his reporting, freelance journalist José Luis Tan Estrada has been forced to leave the country. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges the international community to take action so that Cuban media professionals can safely work in their own country.
“José Luis Tan Estrada's forced exile is yet another example of the systematic repression of independent journalism in Cuba. The escalated harassment against those striving to inform freely and independently is unacceptable. RSF demands real guarantees for the protection of journalists on the island and an immediate end to their persecution.
From oppression to exile, José Luis Tan Estrada's story illustrates the pressure and violence Cuban journalists face, which can be so intense it forces them to flee. In 2024 alone, José Luis Tan Estrada — who worked with various independent media such as La Hora de Cuba, Diario de Cuba, YucaByte and Martí Noticias — was arrested several times. In April, while travelling by bus to Havana, Cuba's capital, he was arrested and held incommunicado for five days in inhumane conditions at Villa Marista, the country's main state security detention centre. Accused of “mercenarism” and “false information”, he was interrogated daily and fined 4,000 CUC (around 166 USD). Last October, he was locked up again in Camagüey, a town in central Cuba, and forced to pay 3,000 CUC (around 124 USD) in fines. José Luis Tan Estrada, who still works for the digital media Cubanet, was also dismissed from his role as journalism professor at the University of Camagüey in 2022 after criticising the government.
Faced with unrelenting abuse, José Luis Tan Estrada decided to leave Cuba last December. At the airport, he was reportedly threatened by an immigration official, who told him that he would suffer “serious consequences” if he returned.
Escaping the crackdown
José Luis Tan Estrada's case reflects an alarming pattern of repression that has driven many independent journalists into exile in recent years. RSF has documented the serial forced departures of journalists working for media outlets such as El Estornudo, Periodismo de Barrio, Cubanet and El Toque. Most of them have been victims of a series of obstacles ranging from surveillance to threats to arbitrary arrests.
On 20 December 2024, Henry Constantín, director of the magazine La Hora de Cuba and regional vice-president for Cuba of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), was arrested. A leading figure in independent journalism, he was arrested by state security agents and spent seven days in prison.
