'I am potentially about to be kidnapped here in Cuba': Nick Shirley's distressing denunciation

U.S. journalist Nick Shirley denounced finding himself in a situation of extreme danger while trying to document the reality of Cuba under the communist regime.

Shirley, known for his work as a YouTuber and conservative influencer, recounted how his trip to show the humanitarian crisis became a survival operation in the face of harassment by Castroism's intelligence services.

Through an emergency message recorded on April 30—but published this Monday, May 4—from his hotel room, the influencer warned about the imminence of arbitrary detention by the repressive state apparatus.

"I am at this moment potentially about to be kidnapped here in Cuba," said Shirley, who assured that intelligence agents were in the hotel lobby to prevent her from leaving the country.

Extreme surveillance and censorship of press freedom

Since his arrival at the airport, the Cuban regime activated its censorship protocols, confiscating most of his professional recording equipment, including GoPro cameras and microphones. Shirley recounted that intelligence agents followed him from the first moment of his trip, waiting even in the vicinity of his hotel during the night.

The influencer stressed that government control over information is absolute and violent:

"Under communism there is no freedom of expression, and those who show reality or speak out are imprisoned," he stated. According to his testimony, his refusal to accept an official government guide put him in the immediate sights of the Cuban G2.

Shirley emphasized that repression is the system's automatic response to any attempt to show the truth. "You can't speak out against communism when you live inside a communist country," he explained, noting that the dictatorship attempts to filter or censor everything published about the island to the outside world.

A country in darkness and an urgent escape plan

The journalist described a Cuba plunged into total collapse, aggravated by the lack of oil and gas following the capture of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela earlier this year. Fuel shortages have sent prices soaring to sky-high levels—up to $10 a liter for gasoline—and left the streets practically empty of vehicles.

The electricity crisis has reached critical levels, affecting even the state-run health services that the regime often uses as propaganda. "Currently, you have surgeons performing operations with flashlights because there is no power inside the hospital," Shirley commented after observing the precariousness in medical centers. "The situation in Cuba is much worse than anyone knows," she added.

Faced with a siege at her hotel, Shirley and her security team devised an escape plan to the U.S. Embassy in Havana.

"We're doing everything we can to get some mileage out of this footage. So, if this video gets out, either I've been kidnapped or I'm safe," he assured. "If I make it out of here, this video will be seen; if not, I'll most likely be in a cell, which I really hope is not the case," he later added.

The influencer also expressed his fear of being detained ahead of the May 1 marches, a date where the regime usually extremes repression against any dissent or critical look.

"They are literally trying to kidnap me and detain me and my two security guards," he concluded before attempting his departure to U.S. diplomatic territory.

Finally, he assured that he would soon publish more details of his 24-hour trip to the island, where he arrived "without a tour guide."

"So no frills, just the reality; that's why they put spies on us and watched us," he concluded.