A fragment of an interview between the Cuban journalist Arleen Rodríguez Derivet and former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa has gone viral on social media, after the host of the Mesa Redonda attempted to justify the blackouts in Cuba by claiming that “José Martí did not know electric light.”
The exchange took place last November during the program Conversa con Correa, broadcast by RT en Español, but the video resurfaced this week at a time when the energy crisis in Cuba has intensified to the extreme, with reports of continuous blackouts exceeding 40 hours in some areas of the country.
In the fragment, Rodríguez stated: “Someone told me, ‘the blackout is terrible.’ I said: look, José Martí never knew electric light and he was a genius, he wrote like the gods; I wish I could write a line like Martí with the light on.”
Immediately, Correa responded incredulously, "But Arleen, we are in the 21st century."
The facial expression of the former Ecuadorian president, oscillating between surprise and irony, clearly indicated his disagreement with the justification from the pro-government journalist, which he interrupted without concealing his mocking demeanor.
On social media, Rodríguez's comment sparked a flood of criticism and memes. User Yun Ping On, who made the excerpt go viral on Facebook, wrote: “Arleen Rodríguez Derivet is so unprofessional as a journalist that Rafael Correa had to stop her nonsense. A must-see! She wants us to remain in Martí's century.”
The psychologist Reybi Sarmiento also reacted on Facebook with a strong observation: "The journalist needs to be informed that José Martí not only knew about electric light, he also wrote about it."
Sarmiento supported his comment with quotes from Martí himself that dismantle Rodríguez's claim.
In the introduction to La Edad de Oro (1889), the Apostle mentions "electric light" among the scientific advancements of his time.
In another of his texts, he wrote: "One must understand the forces of the world to make them work, and to ensure that the electricity which kills in a lightning strike shines in the light."
And in one of his chronicles from New York, Martí exclaimed: “Beautiful electric light! … the soft air illuminated, as if with reflections from angels' wings…”.
The episode, beyond being anecdotal, reflects the contrast between the official narrative —which tries to downplay the seriousness of the blackouts— and the reality of millions of Cubans who are surviving without electricity, without gas, and with food in decomposition.
While the journalist invoked Martí to downplay the crisis, Correa, indifferent to the usual justifying discourse of Cuban television, abruptly halted her with a phrase that became emblematic of the conversation: "We are in the 21st century."
The response from the former Ecuadorian president turned into what many internet users described as “a live mouth shut” to one of the most prominent voices of Cuban official propaganda.
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