A TikToker identified as @leilagonzalez87 posted a video criticizing Cuban influencer Samantha Hernández, known for her involvement in the project "La Familia Cubana," accusing her of overlooking and silencing the reality experienced by the Cuban people.
The trigger for the criticism has roots in statements made by Samantha on the podcast Farándula 305, where she explained that she never went out to protest in Cuba because her mother asked her not to for fear of being arrested. "I don't have the face to stand on social media and tell anyone to go out into the streets, because I didn't do it," she affirmed at the time. She also said that she doesn’t want to belong to that political circus and that she avoids discussing topics on which she does not have sufficient information.
@leilagonzalez87 did not forgive that stance. "Samantica, you don't contribute anything, so for you, Cuba is just politics and money. You don't know what's happening in Cuba because you're that ignorant, because the only thing you know how to do is perform four little dances with seven grimaces and more," she shot in her video.
The TikToker also criticized the page "La Familia Cubana", which has over 1.2 million followers on TikTok and with which Samantha is associated. According to @leilagonzalez87, that page publishes speeches by Díaz-Canel and official marches, but does not broadcast protests or the reality of Cuban families on the island. "You don’t show a protest, you don’t show the situation of a mother in Cuba, you don’t show anything," she complained.
Another point of criticism refers to Samantha's presence at international award shows. "You go to these awards to push Cuba in front of international artists, and they all have to tell you to your face that they won't go to Cuba until that regime falls," the TikToker stated.
As a counterpoint to Samantha, @leilagonzalez87 praised Anna Sofía Benítez, a Cuban activist and YouTuber who denounces the regime from within the island and has suffered reprisals from State Security, including summonses for her social media posts and an "interview" with her mother. "Thank goodness there is a balance, that for an idiot like you there is an Anna Sofía who is inside Cuba. A brilliant university student who doesn't stay silent," she stated.
Benítez expressed solidarity with the young members of the El4tico collective detained by the Cuban regime for their criticisms of the government, which reinforces the contrast drawn by the TikToker between activism from the island and the silence of entertainment figures in exile.
On her part, Samantha Hernández has acknowledged the pain that the situation in her country causes her. "Yes, I do believe they are destroying my country, and it gives me tremendous pain," she said in the same 2025 podcast. However, she also made her stance clear: "I am not going to talk about the situation in my country whenever you want me to talk."
The debate on the responsibility of Cuban influencers in exile regarding the crisis on the island is a recurring topic on social media and divides the diaspora between those who appreciate Samantha's honesty and those who accuse her of passivity or self-interest.
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