"The regime celebrates it as an achievement, although on the island, the little ones still lack milk": Influencer after donation from Vietnamese girl

The Cuban actress and influencer Eileen Morales, known on social media as @lacubanatiktok, lashed out at the Cuban regime following the revelation of an "international solidarity" gesture made by a Vietnamese girl, Ho Thao Nhi, who broke her piggy bank to send 200 dollars to Cuba.

The donation, made through the Red Cross of Vietnam and publicly promoted by the Cuban ambassador in that country, was celebrated as an example of altruism and brotherhood. However, Morales responded emphatically on his social media, where he began his video by saying, "This video is for the Vietnamese girl who broke her piggy bank to donate all her savings to the Cuban children." He added that he wanted "the Cuban ambassador in Vietnam to come to my house and personally give my mother, even if it's just 10 Vietnamese dong for my son."

In the text accompanying the TikTok post, Morales wrote: “While in Cuba children have neither food nor a piggy bank to break. Once again, the dictatorship is manipulating sentimentality to make it seem as if things are fine in Cuba and that children receive aid. It’s a lie! (...) If the money doesn’t go directly through an NGO, it will never reach the children.”

During the video, the influencer criticized that the Vietnamese girl was able to save that amount thanks to her parents' allowance and a school bonus. "And do you know how this little girl was able to save those $200? Well, with the allowance her parents gave her, meaning her parents had a little money left to give her," she said. "In Cuba, parents cannot afford to buy food for their children."

Morales warned that "once again the Cuban dictatorship is manipulating the mass media. Don't be fooled; they want to sell this as international solidarity to touch the deepest chords of people's hearts." He concluded: "None of the money you might send to Cuba for the children will reach any child, so the little Vietnamese girl who asks for proof when they give the money to the kids in Cuba."

The post has generated a wave of reactions on TikTok, where dozens of users supported it with messages of outrage, solidarity, and criticism of the regime. Comments such as “God bless that girl,” “Free Cuba and Venezuela,” “Create an account to send help to your people,” and “Down with the dictatorship” are recurring among the followers of the influencer.

In previous posts, Morales denounced the difficulty her sick son faced in accessing specialized medical care on the island, due to the absence of the assigned doctor on two occasions for being "in meetings." "You have a list of children who need you, and you are in a meeting for two months straight?" she claimed at that time.

She also responded to criticism for having emigrated and leaving her son in Cuba, defending her decision as a sacrifice to ensure a better future for him from the United States. “Cuba is under dictatorship, and when someone has the opportunity to leave to provide a future for their family, they must do it,” she said in a video that sparked a viral debate.

In another of her interventions on social media, she questioned Cubans living outside the island who downplay the crisis, stating: “I did experience hunger, misery, without a refrigerator, with a small child (...) In Cuba, it is even illegal to fish, and if you kill a cow, you are incarcerated worse than a rapist.”

Her publications resonate with the everyday reality on the island: shortages of food and medicine, blackouts affecting schools and homes, a lack of teachers, and children starting the school year without basic materials or conditions. Meanwhile, from the official apparatus, symbolic gestures, such as that of the Vietnamese minor, are promoted without providing real assurance that these donations will directly benefit Cuban children.

Frequently asked questions about the situation in Cuba and the influence of social media