Members of the Convoy “Nuestra América,” a solidarity initiative that recently delivered 14 tons of humanitarian aid to Cuba, denounced a campaign of harassment and intimidation by US and Panamanian authorities upon their return from the island.
Through social media, it was reported that delegates arriving at Miami airport are being detained at customs for exhaustive questioning. Among those affected are high-profile figures such as Amazon union leader Christian Smalls and journalist Katie Halper.
According to the reports, federal agents have confiscated the activists’ electronic devices. Members of the group indicated that this practice is not isolated, recalling that last Monday other members, including human rights lawyer Noura Erakat, were also stopped under similar procedures, which they describe as clear government intimidation.
Illegal Detention in Panama
Meanwhile, Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila was arbitrarily detained in Panama City while on a connecting flight to his country. Ávila’s communications team, who has more than 1.2 million followers on Instagram, reported that the activist was held incommunicado after being subjected to interrogations and biometric procedures by hostile agents who spoke in English.
“We know that what we bring on our ships is a drop in the ocean of Cuba’s needs, a country that has lived for more than six decades under the US blockade,” Ávila declared upon his arrival in Havana last Tuesday.
The Our America Convoy, inspired by the Sumud Global Flotilla that delivered aid to Gaza in 2025, successfully delivered solar panels, medicine, and food in an effort to alleviate Cuba’s energy and economic crisis, exacerbated by the tightening of the oil blockade imposed by Washington since January of this year.
Ávila, who had already been deported by Israel in 2025 after being intercepted in international waters while attempting to break the siege of Gaza, was scheduled to join a new maritime humanitarian mission to the Palestinian enclave soon.
So far, neither the Panamanian authorities nor the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service have issued official statements on these procedures, which social movements denounce as a violation of the right to free movement and solidarity between peoples.
IMAGE CREDIT: Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila was also arbitrarily detained in Panama City while connecting to a flight home. Photo: EFE
[ SOURCE: teleSUR ]
