Related videos:
The use of testosterone and Viagra without medical supervision has become an increasingly common practice among young Cubans, who use them to gain muscle mass or enhance their sexual performance, despite the risks warned by specialists.
The topic was addressed by journalist María Isabel Perdigón in a text published by the Periódico Guerrillero under the title “The Borrowed Force”, where she describes how this phenomenon has infiltrated “among routines, from mouth to mouth, and behind the desperate desire to 'get there quickly'.”
According to the author, “each day the number of boys taking testosterone without medical supervision to gain muscle mass increases, and Viagra to appear ‘more effective’ with women.” Both substances, she warns, “were not created for them, but have become part of a silent, dangerous, and deeply revealing trend.”
The text recounts that this practice spreads "in conversations among peers, in whispers among friends, in the culture of 'me too' that engulfs many men who do not want to be left behind." Several young people, it states, engage in it "due to pressure, others out of insecurity," until the consumption becomes "an open secret."
One of the cited testimonies is from a young man who started using testosterone to speed up his physical progress. “Every week he looked in the mirror hoping for magical changes. He saw them, yes, but he also noticed that the body is wise and charges dearly for every abuse,” wrote Perdigón. The young man confessed, “I looked better, but I felt worse,” after experiencing painful acne, insomnia, and mood swings.
Regarding the use of Viagra, the journalist warns that “it has become a kind of ‘charm’ among young men who believe that sexual potency defines their worth as men.” Many, she adds, “take it as if it were a blue candy, without understanding that it acts on a system as delicate as the cardiovascular one.”
The report indicates that some young people even mix the pill "with alcohol" or use it "to feel safe even when it’s unnecessary." In several cases, the adverse effects include "tachycardia or a rise in blood pressure that scares them, but no one says it out loud, because admitting fear seems worse than admitting to consumption."
The health specialists consulted warn that “the indiscriminate use of testosterone can affect the heart, alter metabolism, damage the liver, reduce fertility, and cause unpredictable emotional changes.” In the case of Viagra, they emphasize that “it is not designed for healthy young people, let alone to be used as a toy or a means of proving masculinity.”
For Perdigón, there is a social and emotional backdrop behind this behavior: "There is a sense of emptiness fueled by unrealistic models that come through the internet, and by the social pressure of a distorted masculinity." In that context, "the quieter the pain, the stronger the desire to compensate for it with substances."
The gym, he adds, has become for many "the only place where they feel in control, where they can become, even if just for a while, the version they would like to be." But when natural progress does not come "at the pace of their anxieties, the temptation to push the body beyond what is reasonable arises."
The journalist closes her text with a call for reflection: “True strength does not come from a syringe or a blue pill. Real power does not depend on a bottle hidden in the pocket of your shorts.” She concludes, “Perhaps what is needed is not to forbid or scold. It is to accompany, to listen, to explain. To help understand that the gym is a place for transformation —yes— but not for destruction.”
The warning recalls other recent cases. In April 2024, a Cuban was fined at the Madrid airport for carrying 234 Viagra pills in his luggage without a prescription. During the seizure, a Civil Guard officer commented that “it is a recurring issue among travelers from Cuba,” while the passenger claimed he used them “for medical reasons.”
Filed under: