The official presenter Michel E. Torres Corona openly mocked on social media the growing voices of Cubans demanding the removal of the program Con Filo from national television.
"Ah, well, if the Cubans are asking for it... let the Norwegians fund us!" he wrote sarcastically on his Facebook account, quoting the headline of the article published by CiberCuba which featured the public's rejection of the program he hosts.
Far from showing self-criticism or empathy, the communicator responded with mockery to the numerous opinions circulating on social media regarding the propagandistic nature of the program. In the same post, Torres Corona limited himself to announcing a musical performance in Havana, ignoring the debate generated by his recent complaints about the alleged lack of resources to produce Con Filo.
A few days ago, the presenter expressed his regret on social media that the program is produced "with fewer and fewer resources", which sparked a wave of comments where users criticized the use of public funds for a production deemed by many as "unnecessary," "biased," "propagandistic," "manipulative," and disconnected from the reality of the Cuban people.
“Remove the program and use that money to buy medicines,” commented a user. Others demanded that the budget for Con Filo be allocated to schools, hospitals, or soup kitchens, in a country where shortages impact all sectors except for the state propaganda apparatus.
The citizens' rejection also questioned the victim stance adopted by Torres Corona, who has insisted that his space is independent within the revolutionary framework, while discrediting critical media and content creators with larger audiences.
The irony of mocking criticism while enjoying a program backed by the state has not gone unnoticed. For many Cubans, this type of response confirms the disconnection between the spokespersons of the government and the actual needs of the population.
Officialist sarcasm against civil society
The disdain for critical voices is not exclusive to Torres Corona. The presenters of Con Filo have made sarcasm a systematic tool to ridicule activists, artists, and independent journalists, in a strategy that combines mockery, manipulation, and misinformation.
Recently, Gabriela Fernández, another of the show's presenters, reappeared on screen after a tour in Spain, where she faced protests from exiled Cubans. Upon her return, she sarcastically remarked, “I must admit, with great regret, that my mission to establish communism in Europe… did not succeed”, thus downplaying the expressions of rejection she encountered outside the island.
During his stay in Europe, Fernández had access to spaces protected by democratic legality to promote the regime's narrative, denying entry to Cuban critics and even publicly provoking them. In contrast, in Cuba, independent communicators face repression, surveillance, and imprisonment for exercising freedom of expression.
Torres Corona has also shown disdain for the real issues faced by the Cuban people. In 2022, he mocked the energy-saving measures in Europe comparing them to the massive blackouts in Cuba.
"We are more than familiar with the mandatory cuts in electric consumption," he said sarcastically, in a display of cynicism that sparked outrage among those who endure up to 20 hours without electricity.
Moreover, he has used the program to target figures such as Yordenis Ugás and La Diosa. Regarding the boxer, he mocked him after a sports defeat, insinuating that his criticisms of the regime were part of a broader failure. To the singer, he ridiculed her for her song 'Cuba Primero', placing it among the “worst counter-revolutionary songs” and making ironic remarks such as “dear friend” and “strong hug.”
He has also not hesitated to celebrate the expulsion of activist Magdiel Jorge Castro from Bolivia, or to discredit critical platforms like El TOQUE, with comments that, according to complaints from academics and human rights defenders, constitute “institutional bullying” from public media.
This use of sarcasm as a political tool reflects the level of disconnection of the regime's spokespersons from the everyday suffering of Cubans. As lawyer Eloy Viera Cañive pointed out: “Things in Cuba are not for jokes, but they prefer to mock the people rather than provide answers.”
Propaganda fixation with CiberCuba
The program Con Filo, produced by the state portal Cubadebate and aired during prime time on national television, has shown a sustained obsession with CiberCuba, one of the independent media outlets with the greatest reach on social media.
Throughout multiple broadcasts, he has devoted entire segments to discrediting articles, headlines, and reports published on this platform, often resorting to content manipulation, offensive sarcasm, and the decontextualization of news.
In his monologues, the host Torres Corona repeatedly accuses CiberCuba of being part of a “media machinery financed by foreign governments” to destabilize the country, without providing verifiable evidence.
The official narrative has turned it into a regular target of the program, which even displays the media's logo and edited excerpts of its publications to fuel its discourse.
Verbal assaults are not confined to television. Both Torres Corona and her colleague Gabriela Fernández have used their social media and parallel broadcasts, such as La Correspondencia, to attack CiberCuba, its journalists, and collaborators.
On several occasions, they have made direct accusations of "mercenarism" and "premeditated lies," and have publicly ridiculed coverage related to blackouts, the 11J protests, or reports of repression and hospital crises.
This attitude has been denounced by international organizations such as ARTICLE 19 and ICLEP, which warn about the use of Cuban state media to carry out discrediting campaigns against critical voices.
The constant mention of CiberCuba in Con Filo not only confirms its impact on public opinion but also the discomfort of the official apparatus in the face of independent media that document and highlight the reality that the regime attempts to silence.
The targeting of CiberCuba follows a communication pattern aimed at isolating and criminalizing independent media that maintain a critical editorial line against the regime.
By turning him into a recurring antagonist, Con Filo aims not only to discredit his credibility in front of the internal audience but also to reinforce the official narrative that any public complaint is part of a supposed conspiracy funded from abroad.
This strategy allows the program to avoid debates over verifiable facts—such as political repression, economic misery, or censorship—and shift the focus to personal attacks, moral discrediting, and hate campaigns.
Through this propaganda mechanism, the presenters portray themselves as defenders of "revolutionary thought," while systematically delegitimizing any voice that exposes uncomfortable truths for those in power.
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