While fuel shortages left the Castro dictatorship unable to put on a major May Day propaganda show by busing in thousands of Cubans to forcibly march, it did have enough resources for oppression. In the days leading up to May 1st, the communist regime unleashed a wave of repression on human rights activists and independent journalists to ensure they did not mess up their already severely diminished show.
Via ADN Cuba (my translation):
Huge wave of repression by the Cuban regime for May 1st
The Cuban regime has unleashed a significant wave of repression in the context of May 1st, International Workers’ Day, for which it called for a pro-government march.
During the days leading up to this Wednesday, several activists, dissidents, and independent journalists have been harassed by State Security.
The coordinator of the United Anti-totalitarian Front (FANTU), Guillermo Fariñas, was intercepted when leaving his home in Santa Clara on April 30th. Fariñas explained that when he left his house to buy cookies, his path was blocked at the corner of Paseo de la Paz Avenue and Hospital Street.
An officer from State Security told him that he was ordered not to let him leave his house until after noon on May 1st. About 20 minutes after Fariñas was intercepted, Lieutenant Colonel Abelardo Rodríguez Febles, First Officer of the Provincial Unit for Confronting Enemy Subversive Activity in Villa Clara, arrived at the scene and told him, “Go ahead, Fariñas, go buy the cookies behind the Old Hospital, we will keep an eye on you.”
He then returned home, still under surveillance.
Also, the vice president of the Opposition Movement for a New Republic (MONR), Mario Alberto Hernández Leyva, was detained in Havana on Monday, and his whereabouts are currently unknown.
On April 29th, a regime agent had called him to threaten him, saying he would be arrested if he left his home.
Likewise, other members of MONR were threatened with arrest if they left their homes during these days.
Meanwhile, journalists Reinaldo Escobar and Yoani Sánchez reported disruptions to their phone service since April 30th.
“However, one thing is what the jailer thinks and another is what goes through the prisoner’s mind. Remember that creativity is the ability to open a window where the door is closed, and I am an expert in frames, blinds, and locks that resist,” Sánchez wrote on her official X profile.
In other attacks on freedom of the press and expression, State Security prohibited journalist Juan Manuel Moreno, director of Amanecer Habanero, from leaving his house until May 2nd, and threatened him with prosecution for contempt if he disobeyed the order.
As of this date, independent journalist José Luis Tan from Camagüey remains detained in Villa Marista.