The Cuban actorCarlos Massola He gave an interview to an independent media in which he acknowledged feeling censored in his country, accused of exercising his freedom of expression, and distanced from his cousin, also the regime's star actress and presenter.Edith Massola.
“My father was also called Carlos Massola. He was a television announcer. He was never a participant in any abuse nor did he ever belong to the Communist Party or anything like that. In fact, that's why they took him off the news, because he didn't want to get involved in anything political. "They took him off the news and sent him to Radio Reloj, and he was there until he died, 18 years ago," the actor toldCubaNet.
The actor has come to the fore again since some time ago he began to transmit his opinions on the situation in Cuba on social networks,going so far as to ask for a “total change” in the country, therelease of political prisoners, the resignation of the leaders, or simply tolet off steam in the face of scarcity and the terrible crisis that he is suffering along with millions of Cubans.
His cousin, Edith Massola, whoHe turned 56 at the beginning of September., positions herself in a different discourse and has no qualms about acting as an extra for the regime, appearing as a presenter at its events or promoting Cuba as a tourist destination.
“Thank you, Edith dear.. It was a pleasure to present Cuba as a cultural destination at the Tourism Fair, together with you. Your charisma and joy guarantee the success of any space...but 'where else?'" he told her through XLis Cuesta Peraza in May of last year during the celebration of the International Tourism Fair in Varadero.
His closeness to the (non) First Lady of Cuba, the official Cuesta Peraza, was not limited to that event. Months earlier, the popular actress was the subject of criticism from Cuban civil society foraccept artistic direction of fashion and culinary events of the controversial San Remo Festival in Cuba, organized by the ruler's wifeMiguel Diaz-Canel.
In addition, he has been seen rubbing shoulders in public with other very prominent figures of the regime, such as the prime ministerManuel Marrero Cruz, which is why many reproach him for his double standards, since he contributes to cleaning up the image of the dictatorship, while his daughter lives in the United States and enjoyed the beaches in Cuba in full confinement due to the pandemic,thanks to “a colonel friend”.
According to Carlos Massola, his cousin Edith does not even answer the phone. "No. And he doesn't even care about me. I call her on her cell phone and she doesn't answer. And I love her, she is my cousin-sister, but she doesn't want to know anything about me," the actor told the aforementioned media.
The distance between the two is due to the actress's fear, her cousin assumed. "God knows. It seems that he is afraid. “He is afraid to make contact with me,” he said.
Asked about the reasons of some artists who remain silent about the situation in Cuba, he said that “artists have to start showing their face” for the suffering of their compatriots.
“I don't want to implicate anyone. I am alone in this. I am not afraid, I speak what I have to speak. I am not implicating anyone, but I am urging you to analyze. It is not that politics and art are mixed, no, it is Cuba that is screwed and that must be helped. They have to take the side of the people because they are suffering too. "I urge you all to look at how sad we are living and to take a stand."
Massola is not afraid, but he pays a price for his audacity to exercise his right to free expression in a totalitarian communist regime. He is not afraid ofState Security, but situations like the one he experienced recently hurt him, in which he was received with great affection by children at a school, but the repressors prevented the teacher from uploading the photo they took with him to social networks.
But he doesn't feel alone. “My family supports me, of course. My daughter, my daughter's mother, supports me. My daughter's mother, through moments of desperation, is afraid, and asks me to be quiet. But being silent is worse. I think we have to talk. There are people who tell you: 'you're crazy, you're not going to solve anything.' I won't be able to solve anything but at least I'm not going to stay silent, without saying how I think. Nobody is going to stop me there.”
Even so, he recognizes that he no longer expects anything from his life in Cuba. “I want to get out of here. There's nothing left for me to do here. Here I'm going to weigh myself down more, to fuck up more. I'm willing to go work on anything. But outside of Cuba. I no longer have anything to do here,” he said, recognizing that emigrating would be the only possible option to help his family in Cuba.
“I know that many people are going to start criticizing this. But I want to leave the country like a lot of Cubans want to leave. This is a surge; “Cuba is escaping,” he concluded.
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