The mother of Díaz-Canel's press chief protests against blackouts in Cuba: "Some have already lost their shame."

María del Carmen Hernández Carús, mother of Leticia Martínez Hernández, who serves as the Head of Communication for Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel, expressed her outrage on social media over the constant blackouts in Cuba and the lack of response from the Electric Company.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Hernández Carús denounced the state of neglect and indifference regarding his complaints about outages that had left his home partially without electricity for over 24 hours.

"Tomorrow I won't go to work, and I might not work the day after tomorrow either; it all depends on when the dispatcher from the Electric Company in Santa Clara understands that they need to send a truck to resolve the issue with my home's power supply," said the professor from the Central University Marta Abreu of Las Villas (UCLV).

According to Hernández Carús, his reports to the Santa Clara Electricity Company fell on deaf ears, leaving him with no choice but to stay home and miss work while waiting for the restoration of service.

"I have called several times to remind them and to ask when they will address my complaint, but the operators, of course, don’t know; they only say that I will be attended to at some point. I’m not aware of any emergencies in Santa Clara that could keep them so occupied. When I made the complaint, the young woman who took my call asked me, 'Is it only at your house?' 'Yes,' I replied. I sensed while responding that my priority would be nearly non-existent, but now I see that it is NOT NEARLY; IT IS NON-EXISTENT," said Leticia's mother.

In her Facebook post, which she later deleted, the university professor recounted how, after a scheduled power outage, her home was left without one of the electrical phases, restricting electricity to just one room of the house.

Written with a mix of indignation and arrogance, her words were captured by Cuban internet users who denounced the hypocrisy of Hernández Carús, who deleted the critical post with which she expressed her frustrations from her social media, replacing it with another, even more pretentious, and showing clear signs of nepotism and preferential treatment due to being the mother of a high-ranking official in the Cuban regime.

"Who knows if they are waiting for more reports from this area to save fuel, right? I hold onto the hope that one day the linemen will come, I hope my boss won’t deduct the days I’ll be absent, I hope that my students will understand my absence. In short, hope is the last thing to be lost, as the saying goes. Because shame, no, some have already lost that," stated the teacher at UCLV, the alma mater of Díaz-Canel.

Hernández Carús's post sparked mixed reactions on social media. On Twitter, user Liborio described his stance as "counter-revolutionary and selfish" for publicly denouncing and demanding priority attention. "Refusing to work while demanding a salary isn’t exactly 'thinking like a country,'" the user commented ironically, labeling the action as "treachery."

"Yes, I truly have many doors to knock on, and they will surely open right away, not due to privileges or favors. They open because mine, my doors, have always been open," said Hernández Carús in the new post he made after deleting the first one.

In a veiled response to the criticism that emerged following the initial publication, where some insinuated that he had used his connections with the government or his daughter to resolve the issue, Hernández Carús made an effort to clarify that the solution came about through the intervention of former students, who offered assistance selflessly, and not through political or familial influence.

"I won't dwell on those who, out of their resentment towards life, constantly spread poison and insinuate that the solution came through Leticia. I could have called her for help. In fact, I have a direct line to a higher authority, but I didn’t use it. In the house where she grew up, and where I raised her, we all hold our heads high and without favoritism. She had nothing to do with solving the problem; continue wallowing in your own decay. You are an embarrassment and a cause for pity," said the mother of the Head of Communication at the Palace of the Revolution, boasting about her "open doors."

Who is Leticia Martínez Hernández, the head of press at the Palace of the Revolution?

Leticia Martínez Hernández is the head of Communications at the Palace of the Revolution and a key figure in Miguel Díaz-Canel's communication team.

Their role involves designing and implementing communication strategies to project the image of the Cuban leader and their "leadership" at the forefront of the so-called "continuity," as well as to conceal, manipulate, and distort the reality of the economic and social crises affecting the country.

Martínez Hernández has been criticized for her communicative style, which reinforces the official and triumphalist narrative that the Cuban regime projects through state media.

In October 2022, he sparked controversy by labeling the residents of Havana who were protesting about the blackouts and the lack of water and food following Hurricane Ian as “selfish and insensitive.”

Her statements, shared on social media, aimed to discredit the popular protests, which elicited widespread backlash from Cuban civil society, the same society that is now questioning how her daughter will respond to her mother's protests against the blackouts.

This is not the first time that their work has sparked controversy. In 2020, the Communist Party censored an official statement from the Council of Ministers published on the Presidency's website, highlighting internal tensions in the government's communication strategies.

Furthermore, Martínez Hernández has been at the center of criticism for the way she manages Díaz-Canel's image on social media, being highlighted in incidents such as the posting of a video of the president attempting to perform math calculations, which led to widespread mockery, or a photograph taken by the sea that turned into a meme.

Under their administration, the Presidency of Cuba has also taken measures to target parody accounts of Cuban leaders, which has been viewed as an attempt to restrict freedom of expression on social media.

In summary, Leticia Martínez Hernández embodies the official communication style of the Cuban government, characterized by her defense of the regime, control over public discourse, and the narrative of legitimacy amid rising social and economic criticism.

Frequently Asked Questions about Blackouts and the Energy Crisis in Cuba