The Spanish influencer Laura Méndez has sparked an intense debate on social media after criticizing the "idealized" image of Cuba projected by the Mexican youtuber Luisito Comunica during his recent visit to the island.
"Let's stop romanticizing Cuba, please. I'm speaking to you with my heart in my hands because what is happening in Cuba hurts me deeply, and it hurts me even more that untrue things are being said," Méndez (@lauramendezde) expressed at the beginning of her video, which has garnered thousands of views on TikTok.
The influencer specifically reacted to the video where Luisito showcases street food on the island. "He has shown street food presenting typical dishes, etc., but that is not the real Cuba, the real Cuba that I experienced and that millions of Cubans live through every day is marked by control, scarcity, and pain," she stated.
In his opinion, the content presents a partial image of Cuban reality. "Luisito has filmed Cuba as if it were a documentary, and as if he were at Disney World, implying that anyone who goes to Cuba can find food everywhere, and that is not true," he said.
"He has eaten more food in a day than a Cuban in an entire month," he added, pointing out that the influencer stayed in five-star hotels, "like the Hotel Nacional, which supports the dictatorship."
"The food that has been eaten is only for tourists; Cubans do not have money and cannot afford that food. Even I, as a tourist in Cuba with 2,000 euros in my pocket, came back with 5 kilos less," he recalled.
He also shared everyday scenes he experienced on the island: "It's been more than two years since people in Cuba have been unable to eat meat, it doesn’t matter if you have money in that country." And while Luisito "acts for the camera," he said, many people wait in line for hours to get "bread, milk, or food."
"In Cuba, there is no Mercado Libre; everything depends on the State, and it fails every day," Méndez continued, describing shortages such as a lack of drinking water, prolonged power outages, and empty pharmacies.
He also recalled how children's milk is distributed precariously: "The milk was brought in a truck, and people waited in the street all day... they would dump it with a very dirty hose into a dirty bucket."
The influencer also spoke about digital restrictions and repression: "There are many mobile applications that are blocked, and there is no freedom of expression." She concluded: "All of this is the consequence of a system that failed 65 years ago because it promised equality and only generates misery."
According to her account, after her trip to Cuba in 2022, she was sought out at her hotel for having shared critical content. "They already wanted to lock me up," she said, referring to repercussions for telling "the truth about Cuba," where she was confronted by elderly individuals while filming a line to buy bread.
In a second video, Méndez interspersed segments of her own recorded experience on the island with scenes from Luisito's video. The result is a visual montage that contrasts her experiences with what the youtuber shows: "We are suffering from hunger and thirst in Cuba," she says, while he celebrates street food. "It's one in the morning and they still don't have milk," Méndez recounts, while Luisito remarks, "Everything is delicious."
In 2022, when he was on the island, Méndez publicly clarified that his trip was not funded by any entity: "I was not paid for any trip to tell the truth. Why would they pay me to tell the truth about Cuba?", he said at that time.
In the midst of the debate, Luisito Comunica recently posted a public apology on his social media: "It breaks my heart to read comments from Cubans telling me that they have never been able to try some of the dishes I show." He explained that his intention was to "elevate Cuban culture," but acknowledged that he omitted a crucial context and confessed to having a broken heart over comments from Cubans and for being "so insensitive."
"Many people have never tried beef," the youtuber confessed in another post where he admitted that his initial intention was to showcase the typical cuisine of Havana, without anticipating the emotional impact his content would have on Cubans. In this new video, Luisito expressed that “he realized that in Cuba, for many, eating is a luxury,” and that he was deeply moved by the thousands of messages he received.
Other voices have weighed in on this matter. The host Alexander Otaola criticized him for not showing the real situation in Cuba, while journalist José Raúl Gallego suggested that his entry to the island was facilitated by the regime to project a favorable image. The rapper El B also reacted with critical verses denouncing the "romanticization of misery."
Laura Méndez, for her part, concluded her remarks with a message to tourists: "If you want to support Cuba, please don't travel with your eyes closed," and a call to influencers: "A communicator with 40 million followers has the obligation to tell the truth when traveling."
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