Sports journalist Héctor Villar has received a flood of criticism after releasing a video showing how to buy a Mercedes Benz in Cuba.
Héctor, who balances his work in Cuban television with collaboration with international agencies, shared on his Instagram account a paid advertisement from the Mercedes Benz agency that has generated controversy.
With a festive tone that contrasts with the country's crisis, the host interviews the operations manager of the company, Alberto Ramos, who explains the advantages: from doing a leasing in which the car can be paid over 13 monthly installments, "just like it works in the rest of the world," to roadside assistance services in various provinces.
This recent "perfect play" by the sports journalist has upset Cubans, who label him as frivolous and shameless for promoting a business so removed from the reality of most of the people.
"You should be ashamed to publish a video like this," said an internet user.
"How is that possible, Mercedes, man, if the money doesn't even stretch for food? The perfect move is what we need to make to buy food," questioned another.
"People don't even have enough for an electric bike," said a young man.
"How to laugh at 11 million Cubans," criticized another.
"I just saw this and I don't even know what to say, speechless, a town that doesn't even have enough for breakfast in the mornings, I saw it and thought it was a joke. Horrors will be seen, hahaha, 'and the blockade?'" asked a third person.
"The monthly payments of 3,000 or 4,000 dollars, what madness," noted a Cuban émigré.
"A tremendous perfect play to imprison people when they go to pick up a Mercedes, if you’re not with the State, don’t even think about showing up there, Alberto is a colonel in State Security," warned a forum user.
"How to laugh at 11 million Cubans," questioned another.
"Héctor, respect your followers and stop sending a wrong and impossible message to those who follow you; most of them are on the island and it's very humiliating to see you. You are not Alice in Wonderland... respect yourself," a mother of a family asked him.
"People have been paying for a refrigerator for decades. Just imagine how many lives it will cost to have a Mercedes," was another comment.
"It should be a shame to record that, now go and walk through Havana and show the buildings, the garbage, the misery. Enough already, they take them to show what suits that failed government, go and pay a visit to the empty stores, to the ditú, to the hospitals, schools, etc. The only thing they show is the new source of wealth of the communists and the failed government," wrote a user.
"This gentleman is taking care of polishing the image of the government and creating an alternate reality to the one lived by the Cuban people. He should be ashamed to profit from the misery and sadness of an entire people. Now with Mercedes and before with EnjoyTravel. If a doctor or teacher sees this, what they want is to spit in his face," assured another.
"Cuba sunk in misery and you buying little toys and giving propaganda to the dictators," one internet user reproached.
A reader asked if this new purchasing option is available for individuals, to which Mercedes responded affirmatively.
"Yes, starting this month of October we have new laws and we can sell to individuals," he noted.
Those "new laws" refer to recent statements by the Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, who shared information about how the government determines the import prices of vehicles in Cuba.
The topic unleashed criticism against the regime due to the high values, to the point of being an impossible dream for highly qualified professional workers in the country.
What do you think?
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