Cuban Journalist Assaulted, Hospitalized After Altercation With State Agents
Alberto Corzo in the hospital. (ICLEP)
On April 1, 2022, Cuban journalist Alberto Corzo was assaulted by two unidentified men in the Colón municipality in the western Matanzas province. The assault left Corzo with a dislocated collarbone and several other injuries. In a video statement, Corzo confirmed he was on his way to a reporting assignment when he was stopped by two agents of the Department of State Security, who demanded to know what he was doing.
After refusing to disclose any information to the officers, Corzo got in a taxi and reportedly noticed two men on motorcycles following him. When the taxi stopped to let him out, Corzo said the two unknown men punched and kicked him and left him lying on the ground. According to a report from the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and of the Press (ICLEP), the two men did not exchange any words with Corzo or take any possessions. A driver who was passing by and happened to witness the assault stopped to help Corzo.
“We are appalled by the brutal assault on Cuban journalist Alberto Corzo, which suspiciously occurred just minutes after he refused to provide information to the political police on his way to a reporting assignment,” said Ana Cristina Núñez, senior researcher of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Cuban authorities must conduct a transparent and independent investigation into the attack and bring those responsible to justice.”
ICLEP has faced continued interference by the Cuban state in the form of raids, detentions, threats, and even disrupted internet access for company individuals. “This is the modus operandi that the political police in Cuba are used to, to intimidate those who work for press freedom,” Normando Hernández, the general manager of ICLEP, said.
Corzo’s assault comes after another journalist, Mabel Páez, was attacked after unidentified men broke into her house. Páez is the director of a community newspaper, El Majadero de Artemisa (The Pestle Of Artemis) that is distributed by ICLEP. The unidentified men responsible for her attack had a very similar modus operandi to Corzo’s attack: Páez said the men punched and kicked her and left her on the ground. She sustained bruises, swelling, and scratches on her left eyebrow, mouth, nose, arms, right hand, and torso. After being beaten, one of the men allegedly said “this is the first warning” before leaving on a motorcycle.
Authorities used Corzo’s name when they initially raided Páez’s house on December 5, 2021, after Páez reported on the death of a teenager who was conscripted into the Cuban military against his will. Authorities claimed the raid was to find Corzo, who was allegedly wanted on outstanding charges of public disorder at the time, and then forced Páez to remain in her home with police surveillance for the remainder of the day.
Corzo was treated for his injuries and released from the hospital as of April 5. “I accuse the regime, the dictatorship, and the political police of being responsible for the this attack I suffered,” he said. Cuba’s crackdown on press freedom and journalists has ramped up since anti-regime protests in Havana during the summer of 2021.
