Cuba Arrests 10 Panamanians for Anti-Government Graffiti as Island’s Tensions With Washington Escalate

MIAMI – The messages appeared across Havana before dawn on Saturday, spray-painted on walls in neighborhoods across the capital, defiant and unsigned except for a set of initials at the bottom, according to José Daniel Ferrer.

“NO A LA TIRANÍA”; “COMUNISMO ENEMIGO DE LA HUMANIDAD”; “COMUNISMO: ENEMIGO DE LA HUMANIDAD CDPC”

[“NO A LA TIRANÍA” (Down with the tyranny); “COMUNISMO ENEMIGO DE LA HUMANIDAD” (Communism enemy of humanity, followed by CDPC (likely standing for “Camino a la Democracia Pacífica de Cuba” or a similar group abbreviation mentioned by Ferrer in related statements); & “COMUNISMO: ENEMIGO DE LA HUMANIDAD CDPC” (Communism is the enemy of Humanity).]

By midday, ten Panamanian citizens were in Cuban custody, held on charges of “fabricating subversive propaganda”, according to the Cuban Interior Ministry—the latest international incident to roil the already escalating relationship between Havana and Washington.

According to the ministry’s statement, the arrests took place on February 28, with the detainees charged under Article 124 of Cuba’s Penal Code, which covers propaganda acts against the “constitutional order.”

The Cuban government accused the Panamanians of having been recruited and paid to enter the island, post the signs, and then leave.

Upon completing the mission and returning to Panama, each was set to receive between $1,000 and $1,500, according to Ciber Cuba, a Miami-based news outlet focusing on on-the-ground developments inside Cuba.

A Government on Edge

The arrests did not happen in a vacuum. They came just days after Cuban authorities said a boat carrying ten heavily armed Cuban nationals from the United States opened fire on border guard troops in waters north of the island.

Soldiers returned fire, killing four aboard the vessel, which was reported stolen and registered out of the Florida Keys. Cuba accused those aboard of “attempting to infiltrate the island and carry out acts of terrorism.”

Cuba said it maintains an open line of communication with the U.S. as investigations by both governments continue.

The government in Havana, cornered by a massive U.S. oil blockade amid worsening currency devaluation, energy shortages, and food scarcity, is witnessing recent U.S. military action around the world and fears that U.S. intervention may soon be knocking at its doorstep in Havana.

The 10 Panamanian nationals face up to eight years in prison under the current Cuban Penal Code, as Panama’s President, José Raúl Mulino, is demanding answers following the detentions, urging the Cuban regime to satisfy Panamanian guarantees of their “physical integrity and ensuring full respect for their rights in accordance with international law and current legislation.”

Panama said it would act with “responsibility, prudence, and firmness” in defending its citizens.

Prominent Cuban dissident and anti-regime activist José Daniel Ferrer, who fled to Miami in October 2025, pushed back on the official version. Ferrer said the Panamanians were arrested for writing graffiti in support of the Cuban people, and that other visitors from Panama had also been distributing food to needy families.

Ferrer posted images of the painted messages and said the detainees would be “in Miami soon to tell the true story,” according to Al Jazeera.

What the Cuban government may not have anticipated is how much the graffiti itself would say. The sight of “NO A LA TIRANÍA” painted on walls across Havana may reflect how dramatically the island’s political atmosphere has shifted since Washington began tightening its oil blockade. But the misery, troubles, and hardships for Cubans on the island and across the Florida Strait have accompanied them for decades.

Cubans across the island have continued expressing their discontent with the regime through signs and graffiti in multiple locations in recent weeks with increasing frequency.

For Miami’s Cuban exile community, the walls of Havana are saying what they have always believed: the regime is losing the story.