The image of a man with water up to his chest holding a television in the midst of the hurricane Melissa went viral around the world in a matter of hours.
In it, many saw the exact portrait of Cuban resilience and misery: a citizen clinging to one of the few valuable possessions he had left, in a country where even the most basic things require a lifetime of effort.
The protagonist of that photo is named Duany Despaine, although everyone in his neighborhood of San Miguel de Parada, in Santiago de Cuba, knows him as Minguito.
After going viral, social media declared him dead. There were reports claiming he had died of a heart attack, or that he had received donations and even a house. All of it was false.
The activist Yasser Sosa Tamayo cleared up the confusion with a post on Facebook that quickly went viral.
"Minguito is still alive. And more dignified than ever. I went to his village: the place where the hurricane not only tore off roofs but also shook beliefs. His house no longer exists. Only a wet floor remains and a television that no longer turns on, like a heart extinguished in the midst of the mud," he detailed.
Sosa recounted that the man greeted him with a weary smile, his clothes still damp and his body marked by tragedy.
"What they say out there is not true. No one has brought me gifts, help, or anything. But I’m still here, brother," Minguito told him, the journalist reported.
The communicator handed over some assistance "on behalf of all of us who still believe in looking and not just passing by."
In her post, Sosa reflected on the poverty disguised as epic that the country lives in.
"In this country where misery masquerades as viral news, there are men like him who do not seek applause: only truth. Minguito did not save a television, he saved his dignity," he concluded.
Following Sosa's post, another user, Osniel Díaz González, took the opportunity to call on more people to join the cause and assist the families in the east affected by the hurricane.
"Great things are coming for these families, because now I want us, through united individuals, to be able to help all those who wish to. This is the reality touched by hand," he emphasized on Facebook.
The truth behind the viral photo
The photograph, taken by Yamil Lage for AFP, was captured on the road of the Refinery in Santiago de Cuba.
It showed a man wading through water up to his waist, carrying an old television. Within a few hours, it became a symbol of the tragedy left by Melissa in eastern Cuba.
However, alongside solidarity, disinformation also spread. Some users fabricated their death to gain followers online, while official media remained silent.
It was the Santiago native Olia Muguercia who first confirmed that the man was alive, asking for help for him
"This photo is circulating on social media. His name is Duany Despaine, better known as Minguito. He lives in Santiago de Cuba. He is alive, but his house is flooded. He lost everything," he said on Facebook last Friday.
A country that is sinking
In San Miguel de Parada, like in many neighborhoods in eastern Cuba, the rains from Hurricane Melissa destroyed homes and swept away what little remained in households characterized by precariousness.
There are still flooded communities and areas without electricity or potable water.
Meanwhile, the state media only highlight "the government's rapid response" and the "recovery efforts," a repeated narrative that contrasts with the accounts of neglect.
In Santiago de Cuba, where the regime boasts of organization and discipline, many survivors claim they did not receive official assistance.
The institutional silence surrounding stories like Minguito's reveals an uncomfortable truth: the population survives more through neighborly solidarity than through government action.
The image that revealed a reality
"Minguito didn't save a television," wrote Sosa Tamayo, "he saved his dignity."
And indeed, that old analog device that the man carried with him through the water and debris is much more than an object: it represents what little the Cuban people can still call their own amid total loss.
The photograph of Minguito, shared in international media and on social networks, has become a symbol of a country where each hurricane sweeps away not only roofs and walls but also hope.
In today's Cuba, where institutions fail to reach people and official propaganda tries to mask the ruin, a man with water up to his neck and a television in his arms embodies a whole nation that is literally struggling to stay afloat.
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