Authorities in Nicaragua blocked Cuban opposition activist Bárbaro de Céspedes from entering the country, preventing him from fleeing from Cuba, several Cuban-focused outlets reported on Monday.
De Céspedes is a public dissident of the communist Castro regime who resides in the Cuban city of Camagüey, where his activism against the ruling communists has awarded him the colloquial title of “The Patriot of Camagüey.”
He was arrested by the Castro regime and sentenced to two years in prison on charges of assault, “disobedience,” and contempt for having participated in the historic nationwide July 2021 wave of protests that saw over 187,000 Cubans take the streets against communism. De Céspedes was released in February 2024.
In a video published on his Facebook page, de Céspedes said that Cuban state security officials have continued to “make life impossible” for him and his family following the completion of his sentence, blocking him from finding a job and warning that he would be detained and prosecuted again should “any situation” occur in Camagüey.
De Céspedes said the ongoing persecution led him to attempt to flee Cuba, making arrangements through an acquaintance for a multi-stop flight out of Cuba to Nicaragua on June 14.
“I made the most difficult decision of my life, to emigrate from this country that I love and defend,” de Céspedes said. “It is not for fear of death — I no longer have a life — but to not cause a nuisance to my family.”
Nicaragua, ruled by the communist Sandinista regime led by dictator Daniel Ortega, lacks entry visa requirements for most nations and allows U.S-bound migrants to freely pass through its territory en route to the United States. Nicaragua is the only Central American nation that does not have entry visa requirements for Cuban nationals.
The activist denounced in the video that, while he was on a bus on the way to the airport, he received a message from the acquaintance who arranged his travel saying that the airline handling his flight said Nicaraguan migrant authorities had not authorized de Céspedes’ entry to the country, thereby canceling his flight reservation.
De Céspedes accused Cuban State Security and Nicaraguan officials of conspiring to prevent him from leaving and effectively stranding him in Cuba.
“I am not crying because of the refusal, I am crying because of the decision I had to make,” de Céspedes said. “Everyone who knows me knows that the homeland is above everything, above my feelings. And these people [the Castro regime] have punished me to live in life imprisonment on this prison island. They don’t let me go out, but they don’t let me live either.”
The activist said Nicaragua also banned one of his daughters from entering in late 2021 but she was ultimately able to flee to the United States recently.
De Céspedes reasoned in the video that his decision to denounce Rosabel Roca Sampedro — the Castro regime prosecutor who sentenced him and at least four other Cuban men to prison for having participated in the July 2021 protests and who is now reportedly requesting asylum in the United States through the Biden administration’s CBPOne app — is what prompted the Cuban and Nicaraguan regime authorities to deny him entry to Nicaragua.
“Since I informed on one of their henchwomen, they want to hurt me as much as possible. I am willing to do whatever it takes for my homeland and they will not silence me,” de Céspedes said.
The U.S.-based outlet Martí Noticias had asked de Céspedes for comment last week over Roca Sampedro’s U.S. asylum request.
“That lady was very despotic with me. She didn’t even let me speak. When they tried to silence me in the trial I defended myself with the constitution,” de Céspedes said last week. “I was imprisoned for a year and eight months because of her.”
“All the time she showed repudiation towards me and what I meant. I would be very happy if she were deported to this country. She does not deserve to live in freedom,” he continued.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
