Cuba Arrests 10 Panamanians in Havana Over Alleged Subversive Signs

Cuba's Interior Ministry announced on March 2 that authorities detained 10 Panamanian nationals who were arrested on Saturday, February 28, in Havana after the group "had been instructed to enter Cuba for the purpose of making signs with subversive content," the ministry said, adding the suspects "had admitted responsibility." The ministry said each had been offered between $1,000 and $1,500 to take part in the operation.

The Interior Ministry described the arrests as relating to "acts of propaganda against the Cuban constitutional order" and cited a Cuban law that it said carries a penalty of three to eight years in prison for "inciting against social order, international solidarity, or the socialist state." The ministry's statement said the law "bans distributing, creating or possessing such material, written or oral."

Officials provided limited operational detail. "Officials did not provide further details, including the nature of the alleged propaganda," and the government has released no transcription, photos or descriptions of the signs the Panamanians were accused of making. According to the initial statements attributed to those detained, "Once this objective was achieved, they were to leave the country and, upon their return to Panama, would receive a sum of money that, according to their initial statements, ranged between $1,000 and $1,500 each."

Panama's Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the arrests, a response the Interior Ministry noted in its public announcement. The Cuban government has not named the persons or groups it says instructed the Panamanians, and sources did not provide the detainees' names, ages, occupations, or the location in Havana where the signs were allegedly produced or placed. The ministry said the details of the operation were not disclosed.

Cuban authorities framed the detentions against a tense security backdrop. Officials said last week the Cuban coast guard shot dead four people aboard a U.S.-flagged speedboat that came within one nautical mile of Cuban shores "for terrorist purposes," leaving six other passengers injured and in custody; Cuban authorities said at least two of those aboard the speedboat were U.S. citizens, one killed and one injured, and that the coast guard vessel's commander was also injured. The Interior Ministry has said the island is on high alert for attack following repeated threats by U.S. officials, a context Havana presented alongside the arrests.

As of March 2, the only public evidence cited by Cuban authorities is the detainees' own statements and the ministry's characterization of the acts as propaganda. It remains unclear whether formal charges have been filed, when detainees will appear before a court, or whether Panamanian consular officials have been granted access. Cuban authorities say the case falls under statutes that carry three to eight years in prison for the offenses the ministry described; independent verification of the alleged signs and the identity of any patrons has not been made public.