Ángel Santiesteban reports Camila Acosta's detention in Havana

Writer Ángel Santiesteban reported that his wife, independent journalist Camila Acosta, was detained in Havana while taking her cat to a veterinary appointment. The arrest occurred in public, according to accounts released about the case. The report focuses on how the detention took place and what happened to the animal after the journalist was taken away.

Santiesteban said several agents intercepted Acosta, handcuffed her and placed her in a patrol car. He also said they did not tell her the reason for the detention. Those claims correspond to the journalist's husband's account. Neighbors who, he said, witnessed the operation told him Acosta had been mistreated during the intervention, a version the writer attributed to those witnesses.

The cat was left alone in the street after Acosta was taken away. According to Santiesteban, a neighbor picked up the animal and then notified the family. Another account says several residents helped bring the pet to safety and informed the journalist's husband about what had happened. The animal was taken to the couple's home, according to that version.

The family said it did not know Acosta's whereabouts after her detention. Santiesteban, a writer and former political prisoner, became the public contact for communicating what neighbors told him about the operation and the rescue of the cat. Reporting on the case has also emphasized that the journalist was headed to a veterinary appointment when she was intercepted.

In another incident involving Acosta, the journalist recorded a man in civilian clothing who, she said, belonged to State Security and was preventing her from leaving her home. That episode was presented as a report of restrictions on her movement. The independent journalist had also documented situations connected with her work, although accounts of the detention provide no official explanation of the reasons for it.