CUTLER BAY, Fla. – A Washington Blade reporter from Cuba who was released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody last week says he can now live without fear of persecution.

FERRIDAY, La. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday released from its custody a Washington Blade contributor from Cuba who won asylum in the U.S.

Cuban reporters and activists have been targeted by cyberbullies on their social media networks.

The Cuban government blocked our magazine’s website in February 2019 and has driven a number of our reporters to leave the country. Recent events point to increasing pressure on the island’s independent journalists.

Idania del Río of Clandestina, a lesbian-run Cuban fashion brand, works at Dacha Beer Garden in Shaw on June 19, 2019. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

The lesbian co-founders of Cuba’s first independent fashion brand visited the U.S. this month amid mounting tensions between their country’s government and the Trump administration.