Cuban journalists enter Mexico illegally; SRE will not deport them

Journalists Esteban Rodríguez and Héctor Valdés entered Mexico irregularly after being expelled by the Cuban regime.

The National Migration Institute ( INM ) identified two Cuban journalists who entered Mexico irregularly.

They are the journalists Esteban Rodríguez and Héctor Valdés , from the independent audiovisual magazine ADN Cuba .

Both were expelled from Cuba in early January, an act that was condemned by the United States Embassy .

This is another method of harassing journalists, of repressing those who peacefully differ, and contempt for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They should never have been repressed and should not have been forced out of Cuba,” the Embassy said in social media.

The journalists were expelled from Cuba on a plane that landed in Nicaragua . From there they arrived in El Salvador and so far it is unknown how they entered Mexico .

According to the INM , the journalist Esteban Rodríguez is under the protection of the Immigration Station of Mexico City since he has an amparo to remain in the country.

Meanwhile, Héctor Valdés was granted an exit letter that allowed him to leave the Immigration Station. The journalist headed to southern Mexico.

In an interview for Radio Formula , Héctor Valdés explained that in early January exiles left Cuba and first took refuge in El Salvador.

According to local media, the Foreign Ministry affirmed that both journalists will continue with the immigration paperwork and processes, but neither of them will be deported to Cuba.

On January 5, Cuba rejected the criticism of the UN and various NGOs for the departure of the two independent journalists from the country who said they were threatened by the authorities.

Cuba’s permanent representative in Geneva, Juan Antonio Quintanilla, lashed out on Twitter at the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, Mary Lawlor, who had described the situation of Esteban Rodríguez and Héctor Luis Valdés as “worrisome.”

Days later, on January 11, the immigration authorities of El Salvador reported that they did not know the whereabouts of Valdés and Rodríguez, who requested refuge in that nation and whose process was closed due to “abandonment.”