Gerardo Hernández denounces repression on U.S. campuses and remains silent in the face of student discontent in Cuba

While Cuban university students bravely mobilize against the abusive tariff increase from ETECSA, facing censorship, threats, and the real possibility of reprisals, Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, national coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), chooses to look the other way.

Instead of addressing the growing youth discontent in Cuba, Hernández focuses on criticizing the police repression against pro-Palestinian protesters at universities in the United States, in an obvious attempt to divert attention from what is happening within his own country.

"How great it would have been if those who today -living in the USA- are so 'concerned' about the megabytes of Cuban students had said something when students over there were beaten for defending Palestine," wrote the former spy on Facebook.

The comparison is completely hypocritical.

In the United States, as several internet users explained in the comments, protests are possible, even when they become controversial.

In Cuba, on the other hand, neither students, nor workers, nor ordinary citizens have the right to protest peacefully, let alone to organize an academic strike or publicly express their discontent without risking being summoned by State Security, fired, or imprisoned.

College students are not the enemy

The public reaction to Hernández's post was strong. "We are worried because we support them, even with toilet paper," replied an emigrant in Florida.

Un exprofesor señaló que en Cuba "hay una antidemocracia filofascista" y que quienes opinan diferente son sistemáticamente criminalizados.

An internet user emphasized that the real customers of ETECSA are outside of Cuba and have the right to criticize the policy of excessive top-ups of a dysfunctional economic system. "They are the ones providing the USD that ETECSA needs."

"In Cuba, we are 9 million, 8 million 900 thousand are miserable (not poor). And yet, they always talk about the US! They are shameless, oh, and they also want the poor Cubans living in the US to send money, remittances, and packages! Shameless," said an emigrant.

Moreover, several users pointed out the double standard of those in power: while the children of leaders study at foreign universities, young people in Cuba must rely on remittances from relatives to attend classes, conduct research, or simply communicate.

The protests are legitimate and necessary

Cuban students have shown an unusual and admirable courage by leading a protest against ETECSA's new tariff scheme, which dollarizes access to the Internet and makes it inaccessible for those who do not receive remittances or income in foreign currency.

Gerardo Hernández's silence in the face of this reality is revealing. He prefers to talk about repression at Yale or Columbia rather than acknowledge that in Cuba, one cannot march even with a flower without the State's permission.

Repression here does not only occur when "they illegally occupy a campus," but simply for dissenting, for posting on social media, for organizing.

The rejection of these measures has been widespread and cross-sectional among young people, who are not only fighting for data but also for dignity and social justice.

A well-known tactic: projecting outward what one does not want to see within

This is not the first time Gerardo Hernández has resorted to this type of distracting rhetoric.

At the end of April, he used the blackout that temporarily affected parts of Spain and Portugal to launch a propaganda speech, labeling Europe as a "failed continent," aiming to discredit the hashtag #CubaEstadoFallido.

That comparison was also widely criticized by users on social media: while power outages in Europe were exceptional, in Cuba they are a part of daily life.

But Hernández, in his role as a propagandist for the regime, systematically avoids discussing the real problems of the country, opting instead for a selective anti-imperialism conveniently focused on external issues.

Cynicism has its limits

Gerardo Hernández can continue using his platform to denounce what is happening outside of Cuba. However, his unwillingness to defend his own students, his own citizens, makes him an accomplice of the repressive system that suffocates them.

Cuban university students are not asking for privileges: they are demanding basic rights in a society that claims to be socialist.

And although the regime's spokespeople insist on looking the other way, the real country is speaking. And it is doing so from the classrooms, with determination and without fear.

Frequently Asked Questions About ETECSA's Rate Hike and the Political Situation in Cuba