A Cuban resident abroad identified as Anabel Hernández posted a video on Facebook in which she fiercely criticizes Ada Galano, president of the National Coordination of Cuban Residents in Italy (CONACI).
Galano recorded a video from Havana, where he participated in the solidarity convoy "Nuestra América", to publicly defend the hotels in Cuba while the population endures blackouts of more than 20 hours daily in many provinces. He sent his message from a hotel where he was staying and stated: "Cubans who call for the closure of hotels do not love their people."
Hernández responded with indignation and questioned the morality of those who stay in a Cuban hotel with guaranteed 24 hours of electricity while their relatives on the island have no power.
"Why are you so shameless? Why are you so shameless?" Hernández asks Galano directly in the video.
The central argument of Hernández is economic and moral: if Galano spends more than a thousand euros a week on a hotel, that money should be used to help his family in Cuba.
"Those thousand euros that you're spending on a hotel, when you don't know which of your family members is without electricity for 14 hours... You're talking about hotels; you're in a hotel with food and everything. You might as well distribute that thousand euros among your family," says Hernández.
It also offers concrete alternatives to Galano: "If you really want to help your family, go home and buy a generator. For example, with the money you spend on the hotel, buy a loaf of bread for the neighbor if you want to help."
The controversy arises amidst the worst energy crisis Cuba has ever experienced. The tourism sector, controlled by the military conglomerate GAESA, maintains electricity in hotels through generators, while the population endures prolonged blackouts. This stark contrast has ignited a debate on social media among Cubans in the diaspora.
Galano, in addition to defending the hotels, requested access to rifles to defend the Cuban regime. He made this request in a meeting with Miguel Díaz-Canel, which intensified criticism against him from outside the country.
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