Activist prevented from leaving Cuba for alleged participation in protests in Uruguay

Activist Lidier Hernández Sotolongo and his wife were at the José Martí International Airport, close to boarding a flight to Uruguay. As they were preparing to pass through immigration controls, officials prevented the activist from going through, claiming that in system was a ban on leaving the country against him. His wife was able to board the plane and head to Uruguay. The activist remains in Cuba despite the fact that he has been a legal resident of Uruguay since October 2016, has his home there, and has a job as a computer engineer. His job is at risk as he haven't been able to return to Uruguay. Two days later, Officer Yosvany of the provincial Immigration and Foreign Affairs Office in Cienfuegos, after making him wait from 10:30 am to 4:00 pm, argued that they could ban him from leaving if they knew he would promote new demonstrations in Uruguay. The reasons for this restriction on leaving the country are the activist's alleged participation in several peaceful protests in front of the Cuban embassy in Montevideo against arbitrary bans on civil society actors leaving the country, one on 26th January 2019 and another on 11th January 2020.