Iliana Hernández Cardosa (born 1973) is a Cuban activist and journalist. Cardosa has worked as a reporter and correspondent for CiberCuba in
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Guantánamo
Guantánamo (, , ) is a municipality and city in southeast Cuba and capital of Guantánamo Province.
Guantánamo is served by the Caimanera port near the site of a U.S. naval base. The area produces sugarcane and cotton wool. These are traditi ...
in 1973. In 1996 she migrated to
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, where she studied dental prosthetics and community management, and played as lead and voice actress in series and movies.
She decided to return to Cuba later. As an activist, Cardosa is a founding member of the Somos+ movement and participated in 2013 and 2016 in the Estado de Sats project along with
José Daniel Ferrer
José Daniel Ferrer García (born July 29, 1970) is a Cuban human rights activist, whom the international and Spanish media claim to be "the visible head of the dissident movement in the interior of the island since the death of Oswaldo Payá, in ...
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
from Cuba. In Cuba she directed and produced ''Lente Cubano'', an audiovisual program that covered Cuban reality through culture, citizen complaints, the promotion of private businesses and the inclusion of both prominent and less known artists in the island; the program was launched in Miami in September 2016. Upon her return to the island she was warned about its content at the airport, especially with the "Citizen complaints" section. The audiovisual, which circulated on the internet through El Paquete (The Package), led her to gain the attention of the Cuban state security. In February 2017, Hernández was arrested in
Old Havana
Old Havana () is the city-center (downtown) and one of the 15 municipalities (or boroughs) forming Havana, Cuba. It has the second highest population density in the city and contains the core of the original city of Havana. The positions of the ...
and stripped of her personal belongings.
In May 2019, she was violently detained along with other activists during the march organized by the Cuban LGBTI + community. In January 2020, state security agents and the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) raided her house looking for red paint, that would link her with the Clandestinos opposition movement, whose actions they intended to eliminate, (pouring paint at images, murals and busts of
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
).
To boycott her activity, the Cuban government accused her of receiving stolen goods in January 2020 and had some personal items confiscated, which according to the regime did not have the documentation that proved her ownership. In February 2020, the activist received a death threat while she was making one of her usual
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
broadcasts from Havana, when a user told her that one day she was going to "wake up with a mouth full of ants." In June, Hernández denounced that her internet had been cut hours before the protest called by independent organizations to demand justice as a result of the killing of a young man in
Guanabacoa
Guanabacoa is a colonial township in eastern Havana, Cuba, and one of the 15 municipalities (or boroughs) of the city. It is famous for its historical Santería and is home to the first Afro-Cubans, African Cabildo (Cuba), Cabildo in Havana. Guanab ...
at the hands of a policeman. She was eventually detained to prevent her from attending said protest.
Personal life
Cardosa currently lives in
Cojímar
Cojímar is a historic fishing village located in the municipality of Havana del Este, Cuba. Situated on the northern coast of the island, approximately 7 kilometers east of Havana, Cojímar is renowned for its cultural significance, history, a ...