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Henry Constantín's partner says prison pressure is meant to force him into exile
Alejandra García, partner of the director of La Hora de Cuba, jailed since mid-September in the Kilo 7 prison in Camagüey, says State Security is trying to push him into exile and that the journalist has lost eight pounds, in remarks to Martí Noticias reported by 14ymedio.
García, also a journalist, was able to visit him last Friday, after 15 days in isolation because a handmade knife was found in his cell. The strategy, she told Martí Noticias, is to «wear him down» with manoeuvres such as «all the lies that have been built up, like planting the knife».
On that case, García says «no fingerprints were ever taken from the knife» and that the unit chief handled it, leaving the evidence «contaminated». In a text published on La Hora de Cuba's social accounts, she maintains that an inmate took part in planting the object in exchange for a reduced sentence offered by a State Security officer in Camagüey, according to testimony from other prisoners. These are the family's assertions, which no authority has publicly confirmed or denied.
The journalist estimates that Constantín has lost eight pounds and says the family is worried «because in places like that there are poor sanitary conditions». Although they have been able to bring him belongings and food, she says water purification products were not allowed through, that the food handed out «is in bad condition», that the water «is not drinkable enough», that there is a «constant presence of mosquitoes» with a risk of dengue, and mattresses full of bedbugs. She adds that the director of La Hora de Cuba «has received threats of assault».
Constantín is charged with «disorderly conduct and possession of instruments for assault in penitentiary establishments», a case that will be joined to one for «disobedience». He remains in pre-trial detention in Detachment 11, held alongside ordinary prisoners serving long sentences, awaiting a trial date. State Security took him to Kilo 7 on September 24, days after arresting him.
November 16 will mark two months since his arrest. «Two months away from his home, his family and his freedom, for telling the truth», García wrote, also denouncing the theft of his belongings and the failure to hand over medicines and food brought by the family.
Diario de Cuba reported the same complaint: the regime is seeking to force the journalist to leave the country after almost two months in jail, during which he has suffered theft, threats and mistreatment. García stresses that «even the prison's own report describes him as a peaceful, quiet person, almost always silent and devoted to reading», and asks how the accusation can then stand.
Sources: 14ymedio · Diario de Cuba · Martí Noticias
Data updated: 2026-11-11T04:15:00.000Z