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The Matanzas journalist Yirmara Torres Hernández, associated with state radio, publicly questioned the government's handling of the health crisis in Matanzas once again, stating that just three months ago the authorities downplayed the severity of the chikungunya outbreak and labeled those who warned about the situation as "exaggerated."
“Three months ago, the people of Matanzas were being dramatic, and chikungunya was not a concern. What happened?” they wrote on Facebook, accompanying the message with a direct appeal to the local health institutions.
The statement by Torres comes at one of the most tense moments of the epidemic in Matanzas, where the population reports a lack of fumigation, shortages of medication, neglect of unsanitary areas, and a growing number of sick people each day, while the government insists that the situation is under control.
Her post came after she reported the death of a woman from her son's neighborhood, who passed away after contracting chikungunya while dealing with a prior illness.
"There are no deaths, but there are," he said then, directly contradicting the health authorities who have denied fatalities associated with the epidemic.
The official reaction to that first post did not take long. The state broadcaster Radio 26, where Torres works, issued a statement to undermine the legitimacy of his complaint, accusing “foreign digital platforms” of “manipulating” his words and taking them out of context.
According to the text — Disseminated by the provincial director of Radio, Odalys Oriol Miranda Suárez — the journalist's publication “does not reflect a legitimate concern” and would have been presented as a “denunciation against the system.”
The statement from Radio 26 defended the health system in Matanzas, asserted that the authorities act with "transparency," and categorically denied any concealment of deaths due to arboviruses.
The institution also emphasized that Torres "does not hold any leadership positions," an evident attempt to distance itself from his testimony and present it as a personal opinion without institutional relevance.
A testimony that breaks the official silence
The regime's discomfort with Torres's publication stems from the fact that his voice comes from the state media apparatus itself, an environment where it is unusual for press workers to publicly challenge the official narrative.
His message, widely shared on social media, placed at the center of the debate the lack of epidemiological control, unsanitary conditions, and the inadequate response of health authorities.
The journalist has described a scenario where the residents of Matanzas live in fear of falling ill in an area marked by a shortage of medications, lack of water, proliferation of mosquitoes, and the absence of systematic fumigation.
Her own son, deeply affected by the neighbor's death, provided the testimony that led her to break her silence.
The chikungunya outbreak in Matanzas has generated a wave of concern both inside and outside the territory.
Authorities, however, have insisted on denying associated deaths, even as numerous citizens report critical cases, serious complications, and the deaths of vulnerable individuals.
In this scenario, Yirmara Torres's intervention acted as a crack in the official discourse.
His statement —“Three months ago, they called us exaggerators”— reminds us that since the beginning of the epidemic, many people from Matanzas have reported severe symptoms, a collapse of healthcare services, and a sustained increase in the number of sick, while the State downplayed the alerts.
Torres' message resonated precisely because it comes from a state media worker who, despite her role within the system, decided to publicly expose what thousands of families in Matanzas are experiencing.
Her complaint forces us to confront a reality that the authorities have tried to downplay, and it reignites the question that she herself raised.
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