We never actually see any regime goons in the interview clip so we’re left to take her word for it. Is it possible that a viral star might fake an incident like this to promote herself? I guess.
Is it possible that Cuban state security actually might show up during a moment of high tension domestically to haul off a well-known critic? Most definitely.
She was on the air with Spanish TV when they allegedly knocked on her door. That was fortuitous, as it’ll be harder for Raul Castro’s puppet, Miguel Diaz-Canel, to deny responsibility now if she ends up going “missing.”
🚨BREAKING🚨
Cuban state security forces detain independent journalist @DinaStars_ as she she was being interviewed live on TV by @martaflich of Spain. She has been covering the protests.#SOSCuba #PatriaYVida pic.twitter.com/2EgToHXDdq
— Giancarlo Sopo (@GiancarloSopo) July 13, 2021
Sure looks real to me:
🚨#SOSCuba🚨
Here is the moment when Cuban state security forces attested independent journalist @Dinastars_.
She was detained while giving an interview live on television to a news outlet in Spain.#PatriaYVida https://t.co/OfErh8ALHd pic.twitter.com/JMs9SoptFG
— Giancarlo Sopo (@GiancarloSopo) July 13, 2021
The government is sufficiently worried by the unrest that even the puppetmaster reportedly attended Sunday’s Politburo meeting about the crisis:
Raúl Castro, the octogenarian leader who is still the ultimate authority in Cuba, came out of retirement to attend an emergency meeting of the Communist Party’s Politburo to deal with the islandwide protests that have shaken the six-decade-old regime…
Castro’s presence in the meeting is a sign of how seriously the regime takes the protests, and may also be an indication that there are doubts that Díaz-Canel, whom Castro selected to succeed him at the top of the party and as president, can handle the crisis alone…
[V]ideos show police officers wearing riot gear, several police cars and trucks patrolling the streets, police officers beating back the crowds, and demonstrators throwing stones and forcing several police cars to back up to get away. Photos and videos also show people mobilized by the government holding sticks similar to baseball bats. Some appear very young and thin and wearing military boots, suggesting they might be fresh recruits in Cuba’s mandatory military service.
These are the “fresh recruits,” I assume, deputized to crack heads:
🚨#SOSCuba🚨
More disturbing images out of Cuba. The Cuban military has deployed its infamous Black Berets and brigades disguised as civilians in residential neighborhoods to hunt down protestors. The Cuban people are unarmed.@POTUS/@Cartajuanero, we MUST act.#PatriaYVida pic.twitter.com/DWEMx2t2TR
— Giancarlo Sopo (@GiancarloSopo) July 13, 2021
There are also rumors circulating of troops with Venezuelan accents present on the eastern part of the island. Maybe that’s anti-Castro propaganda aimed at galvanizing American support for the protesters by tying Maduro’s Chavista movement to the crackdown, but Maduro would have an obvious interest in seeing Cuba’s uprising suppressed. If Cubans manage to depose their communist slavemaster, Venezuelans may get funny ideas that they can do the same. No surprise, then, that Maduro’s government has spent the last few days signaling to the opposition that they’d better not try anything:
The Nicolás Maduro regime arrested former opposition deputy Freddy Guevara on Monday, while another group of policemen surrounded the residence of Venezuelan opposition chief Juan Guaidó without actually detaining him. https://t.co/7XIyndfaxt
— Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) July 12, 2021
Meanwhile, Marco Rubio asks a fair question. If Trump had to be banned from American social media for fear that he’d incite violence against his opponents, why isn’t Diaz-Canel banned for the same reason?
I am not in favor of @twitter blocking anybody
But if @twitter.gov is going to block American politicians, activists & even a U.S. President they should also block Marxist Socialist dictators who incite street violence #SOSCuba #PatriaYVida https://t.co/DPIhKHplvL
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 13, 2021
As I write this at 6 p.m. ET, the fate of Dina Stars is unknown. One thing I’m curious to know is how she was able to appear on Spanish television to begin with. Cuba’s government has predictably begun knocking social media offline but evidently the Internet was still up and running if Stars was able to connect to Spain. Or was she maybe using some contraband service to stay online? Ron DeSantis said at a roundtable with Cuban-American community leaders in Florida today that U.S. telecoms should be scrambling to provide Internet to Cuba via satellite. That’s a fine idea. How about it, Biden?
