In what was the 63rd episode of their podcast, the Spanish YouTubers from the Black Mango channel expressed the fear they felt when being summoned by agents of the Cuban government during their recent trip to the island.
What began as a visit to film a documentary turned into an experience defined by surveillance, harassment, and fear.
Everything exploded after the posting of an apparently innocent story, which showed the deterioration of a neighborhood near the Capitol in Havana. "It was a 40-second post where we simply talked", they explain in their podcast. However, the story quickly went viral, circulating on social media and digital outlets, which was enough to raise alarms within the regime.
According to reports, they began to feel tension when someone close to them, who they had encountered during the tour, approached them crying and showed them a news article about their viral story. “Look at what they just sent me, and I'm scared because they are with me,” she said.
That same day, they received a call that left them stunned: government officials wanted to meet with them urgently. At that moment, the three creators realized they were in serious trouble.
Although they tried to stay calm, they knew something was wrong. "When they tell you they want to see you 'to talk,' you already know it's not just a casual chat,” they explain.
One of them even prepared an “emergency plan” in case things got out of control: embassy locations, contacts abroad, and a secret signal in case he had to flee.
The meeting ultimately took place in the apartment where they were staying. Two agents, one in uniform and the other dressed in civilian clothes, insisted on going up to the location, despite the group's initial refusal.
“In Cuba, this often happens with infiltrators”, they commented. “People who seem civilian but work for the government, watching everything you do without you realizing it”.
During the interrogation, the officials complained about the viral story: “It's causing a bad image”, they said. The YouTubers responded that their intention was not to attack the regime, although they openly acknowledged: “That's a dictatorship, no discussion needed”.
One of them even dared to tell them to their face that the internet in Cuba "sucks." According to their account, the agents asked for their phones, checked their posts, and looked for contradictions in their answers.
“They asked us for our passports and that’s when we got worried. We thought: they're going to take them away from us”, they recount. Despite the tensions, they were not detained, but the uncertainty lasted until the very last moment. “We didn't know if they would let us leave the country or if we would be detained at the airport”.
Finally, they managed to board the return flight, although the experience left them with deep concern for the Cuban people. “If this happens to us, as foreigners, for a story, what won’t they do to the everyday Cuban?” they wonder. “How many are disappeared without anyone knowing?”
In addition to fear, the YouTubers were also moved by the courage of those who, even knowing the risks, dared to speak in front of their cameras. One of them, tired of staying silent, specifically asked to appear in the documentary: "I've already lost everything, if I have to go to prison, just put me in prison."
The journey of Black Mango ended in freedom, but the testimony they left starkly exposes a reality that thousands of Cubans live daily: repression, constant surveillance, and punishment for expressing their thoughts. A dictatorship that does not tolerate even an Instagram story.
The incident bears similarities to the case of Eva Cavero and Andrés Izarnótegui, a couple of Peruvian tourists who were deported from Cuba in September 2024 after filming videos for their channel La Blue Kombi.
In that instance, the authorities took them out of the hotel in the early morning, interrogated them for 12 hours, confiscated their equipment, searched their phones, and expelled them without allowing them to contact their embassy or collect their belongings. The accusation: “damaging the country's image”.
Both cases highlight a growing pattern of repression against foreign content creators who document Cuban reality from a critical or independent perspective. The Cuban regime maintains strict control over the content that can circulate both within and outside the island, especially what depicts scarcity, poverty, or criticism of the system.
Watch the full video of Black Mango here:
Filed under: