The Cuban influencer Anita Mateu, residing in Spain, sparked debate once again on social media after responding in a video posted on TikTok to a comment that attributed the crisis in Cuba to the "blockade" by the United States.
In the audiovisual, content creator @anita.mateu responded directly to a user who had commented that "the crisis Cuba is experiencing is due to the United States' blockade" and that "any other country would face the same situation if it were under a blockade like the one Cuba is enduring."
Mateu questioned that argument and asserted that many of the people who repeat this idea are not even Cuban. “Most of the people who hold this opinion, that the problem in Cuba is the U.S. blockade, are people who aren't even Cuban,” he states in the video.
Addressing the commenter, she adds: “I’m sure you’re not Cuban. Most people who say this in my comments when I talk about the reality of Cuba have no idea; they just speak for the sake of speaking.”
During her speech, the influencer insists that those living in the country are well aware of the situation and do not primarily attribute the crisis to U.S. sanctions.
"But tell me one single Cuban, just one, who says, one who is really in Cuba, who truly understands the situation, that the problem is the United States and the blockade; you won't find them because the real problem is not that."
Mateu acknowledges the existence of sanctions, but argues that they are not the main cause of the difficulties on the island: “There is an embargo, it is not even a blockade, there is an embargo, but that is not the main problem in Cuba. The main problem in Cuba is the government, which is a dictatorship, a government that is of no use, that has people going through countless hardships.”
As an example, he mentions American products available in the country: “Having gone to Cuba recently and bought food and various items, do you know the amount of food from the United States in Cuba and the number of goods that enter Cuba daily from the United States?”
The video concludes with a criticism of those who comment on Cuban reality without experiencing it firsthand: “So stop talking nonsense without knowing, my God, every time I see a comment like that I think, they have no idea, no idea, no idea at all.”
Weeks earlier, during his most recent trip to the island, Mateu had already shared on social media his impressions about the deterioration he found in Havana, an experience he described at the time as painful and shocking.
In that testimony, he explained that each return brought him a strong emotional shock as he compared life in Spain with the reality his family faces in Cuba, marked by urban decay, high prices, and the daily worries of the population.
His most recent response once again places at the center of the debate on social media the causes of the crisis in Cuba and the responsibility of the country's political and economic system.
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