SAR’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project investigates and reports attacks on higher education with the aim of raising awareness, generating advocacy, and increasing protection for scholars, students, and academic communities. Starting July 1, 2026, SAR no longer publishes reports for the incidents that it records. SAR continues to monitor and record incidents that will be used in the annual Free to Think report. This page provides a record of incidents reported up to that date. Learn more about the Academic Freedom Monitoring Project.

Date of Incident: December 18, 2025

Attack Types: Imprisonment

Institution(s):Cuban Academy of History

Region & Country:Americas | Cuba

New or Ongoing:New Incident

On December 18, 2025, Cuban police detained scholar and activist Alina Bárbara López Hernández while she was traveling to a peaceful protest.

López Hernandez, a public intellectual, professor, and member of the Cuban Academy of History, was traveling to the Parque de la Libertad in Matanzas to march for human rights and freedom of expression. She had participated in this demonstration on the 18th of every month since March 2023. Police intercepted López Hernandez and took her to the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) Station in Playa.

López Hernandez was previously arrested in June 2023 and June 2024 in relation to her political activism.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the arbitrary arrest and detention of a scholar in apparent retaliation for the peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of expression and assembly — conduct that is expressly protected by international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Cuba is a party. In addition to the harm to the immediate victim, such incidents have a chilling effect on academic freedom and undermine democratic society generally.

Sources:
*This incident was identified by Aula Abierta, a member of the Coalition for Academic Freedom in the America’s Monitoring Working Group.
https://en.cibercuba.com/noticias/2025-12-18-u1-e197721-s27061-nid317006-regimen-cubano-vuelve-detener-profesora-alina
https://www.facebook.com/alinabarbara.lopez/posts/pfbid02cxqD2CAQ8p5nxWSwuKCRYohpdtGTsFtQpptfPGZa7GB8mLCmdt4mrVPREG1woAKkl https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2025/05/26/persecucion-en-cuba-la-fiscalia-de-la-dictadura-solicito-siete-anos-de-trabajo-correccional-para-dos-intelectuales-disidentes/
https://www.prisonersdefenders.org/2023/10/31/alina-barbara-lopez-hernandez-condenada-de-conciencia/
https://www.martinoticias.com/a/arrestan-a-la-academica-cubana-alina-barbara-lopez-hernandez/436301.html
https://adncuba.com/es/derechos-humanos/liberados-profesora-alina-barbara-lopez-su-hija-y-el-intelectual-jorge-fernandez
https://www.pen-international.org/cases/alina-brbara-lpez-hernndez