With a performance featuring two characters—an official in a checkered shirt devouring a chicken leg and a village in darkness, gagged and hungry—Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente once again stripped away the official narrative and showcased the obscene gap between privilege and misery in Cuba.
The new video from the 20-year-old content creator has garnered over 565,000 views and 5,760 comments on Facebook, propelled by a portrayal that encapsulates, with dark humor and rawness, the double standards of the Cuban regime.
Posted on their Facebook page, the audiovisual piece, which lasts less than three minutes, is titled after a biblical quote from the Old Testament that strongly condemns legal and administrative corruption: “Isaiah 10:1-2: Woe to those who make unjust laws, who write oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the afflicted of my people.”
On stage, she plays a government official demanding "creative resistance," while devouring a chicken thigh, in contrast to a character representing the people, who remains in the shadows, with a candle and their mouth covered.
The official acknowledges the lack of food and the blackouts, yet demands air conditioning when she feels hot, a contradiction that highlights the gap between daily hardships and the privileges of power.
Then he prescribes lemonade as a solution to hunger, referring to "Lemonade is the basis of everything," one of the most famous phrases of the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel.
He also claims that "the Revolution is... revolutionizing," -another emblematic phrase from Díaz-Canel- before blaming the U.S. embargo for all the ills.
Cynicism is revealed when he receives the news through the phone that the shipping agencies in Miami "are operating at full capacity" and responds with relief.
The tension in the piece builds as the people watch the official continue to eat in a grotesque manner.
As the candle goes out, a match breaks the darkness and reveals the popular character picking up the bone left by the leader.
The scene is juxtaposed with a Marti quote from the text “La futura esclavitud” (1884): “From being a servant of himself, man would become a servant of the State”, a message that underscores the moral and material degradation imposed from above, by a leadership that claims to be socialist.
The character of the official concludes with a threat: “We are going to take down the digital platforms. And let them say we are censoring. Everyone censors here,” another phrase spoken by Díaz-Canel.
The people reappear with their eyes blindfolded, while on the final image of a candle, the phrases appear: “Silence makes you complicit,” “Many have gone for the cause, but there is still hope…” and “FREEDOM.”
The video has caused an avalanche of reactions. The comments emphasize the actress's bravery and the fidelity of the portrayal.
"Mirror of the Cuban reality," "More eggs than men in Cuba," "A modern Mariana Grajales," "This is already cinema," stand out among others.
Others highlight the political impact. “What a headache you’re giving the PCC,” “You express what the majority feels but is afraid to say.”
Overall, the responses reveal how the piece struck a collective chord, denouncing a power that demands sacrifice while existing in a parallel world that represses those who dare to expose that contradiction.
In a previous video, through a humorous dialogue, Ana Sofía directly criticized the country's economic management, the dependency on the dollar, and the state's campaign against El Toque.
In several of his pieces, he has referenced the Constitution and José Martí to support his right to express himself, a strategy that is integral to his political and aesthetic language.
In October, one of her videos went viral after denouncing the everyday hardships in Cuba and appealing for the freedom of expression enshrined in the Constitution, amidst calls for institutions to amend an error in her university degree.
Graduated as a Superior Technician in Dental Prosthetics, she depicted the true ordeal of obtaining a degree in Cuba, while in just a few minutes she dismantled the phrase that so many regime officials repeat as dogma, that “you owe that university degree to the Revolution.”
It also reported that the monopolistic Telecommunications Company of Cuba (Etecsa) cut off her internet connection to silence her posts and limit the reach of her message on social media.
The young woman defends her right to express her opinion by referencing Article 54 of the Cuban Constitution, which guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, and expression. She also states that the revolution has not provided her with conveniences and that her opinions are valid despite the criticism she faces due to her economic situation.
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