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Cuban actress Claudia Valdés posted a lengthy and heartfelt message on her social media, expressing the pain she feels regarding the reality in Cuba, which is marked by power outages, shortages, and a lack of freedoms.
“Claudita, I just received the electric generator.” This is how the testimony shared by the artist begins, recounting the call she received from her grandmother on the Island. She shared that the news was celebrated “with all the joy in the world,” “as if an electric generator were a gold bar. As if it were the greatest luxury imaginable. When in reality, it’s not even the most basic necessity.”
The actress confessed that that conversation hit her emotionally: “It made me so sad to receive that call.” From there, she explained that her reflection does not come from an opportunistic standpoint, but rather from a personal experience. “I’m not speaking from hysteria, nor from trends, nor from collective pressure. I speak from real pain,” she wrote.
Valdés also questioned the dynamics of social media and the pressure to constantly share opinions: “Lately, I feel that social media has created a sort of obligation to voice an opinion. As if silence automatically labels you. As if not posting means not feeling.” However, he acknowledged that there are situations that cannot be silenced or ignored.
The artist, who has been living outside of Cuba for 18 years, recalled that much of her life is built in another country, where her daughter was born, but her grandmother remains on the Island "enduring, suffering, and facing a lot of hardships." "Every time I set foot in Cuba, the only thing I think about is running to embrace my grandmother (...) And I will continue to do so as long as God gives me the opportunity for her to remain alive. I will keep sending her everything she needs. I'm not saying this as a clarification. I'm saying it as a truth."
In his message, he expressed outrage at the situation the country is facing: “It makes me so angry, so confused, and so saddened by the situation to which my country is subjected by a regime that is sinking its people deeper every second. Its children…”
He also made his aspiration for the future of Cuba clear: “I want people to be able to live with dignity. I want having electricity to not be something to celebrate. I want the basics to be just that: something basic. No one should have to be grateful for the bare minimum.”
Valdés also made a call for freedom: “And let them know freedom. The freedom of which we have only known the word for many years, but not the meaning.” In another part of the text, he added: “I know that reality is experienced differently, depending on the lens through which one views it (…) but what is evidently common for everyone is that the situation in Cuba is inconceivable.”
The actress concluded with a wish that encapsulates the essence of her post: “I just hope to see the day when an electric plant and a few trivial purchases are not the greatest gift a human being receives. And that the most fundamental thing a human possesses, which is freedom of expression, is not a gift but a right and a duty.”
His message was accompanied by an image demanding the freedom of "El 4Tico" and all political prisoners in Cuba, reminding that freedom of expression is not a crime.
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