The Cuban official Johana Tablada provoked a wave of reactions on social media after posting a message on Facebook in which she compared the situation in Cuba to a "house."
The regime's spokesperson asserted that if a "bully" cuts off "water, electricity, gas, and your rights" and threatens to "break down your door" and "take what is ours," then — she said — it is "logical" for "brothers and neighbors" to set aside their differences to make it clear to the "abusers" that they have no right to impose decisions that, in their view, belong to "our people."
In that post, Tablada suggested that it is “good and healthy” to discuss among “brothers” about how to “paint the house and the neighborhood,” but he defended the need to “know how to protect it” in order to “have it and improve it.”
"We all want to improve our home, but to have it and enhance it, we need to know how to defend it," he stated.
The post generated critical responses from users who questioned the viability of "defending the home" without addressing basic needs.
A comment questioned what would be “the best way” to defend her and argued that, before any activity, a person needs “shelter, food, and the essentials for living.”
Other messages indicated that while "no one will stop defending" the island, the government should "call upon the people" and listen to criticisms and ideas regarding the economic situation.
In the same vein, a user mentioned the repression against young voices and cited the case of the project El 4tico, stating that its members were imprisoned and that “the people” should determine their path.
There were also comments that countered Tablada's approach from an internal perspective, pointing out that “defending the house” would mean not turning it into a “prison” and that the deficiencies and lack of freedoms would be the result of decisions made “over decades.”
Among the reactions, some users expressed fatigue over what they called “creative resistance” and compared the situation of the population to that of leaders whom they described as “fat, shiny” and flaunting high-value possessions.
That comment mentioned examples of relatives of official figures studying or vacationing abroad, as part of a broader critique of government discourse and perceived inequality.
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