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Daisy Ortega, sister of Juan Carlos González Marcos —the man who became a symbol of hunger on the island with his cry of “¡jamaaaa!”— shared an emotional message in which she expressed gratitude to those who supported her family during these difficult days.
"Thank you all very much," he wrote at the end of a post where he publicly bid farewell to his brother and, at the same time, asked that he be remembered beyond his decline in recent years.
In the text, Ortega revealed a Pánfilo different from the viral character: a down-to-earth man, beloved in his neighborhood, capable of lending a hand even amid his own difficulties.
She remembered, for example, an episode that occurred shortly before his death, when he encouraged her to comfort a young girl who was crying alone next to her mother's body in a hospital. For her, that gesture encapsulates who he truly was.
"That addict, that drunk, or however you want to call him... he was the kindest," he asserted, reclaiming his human side against the labels that had accompanied him for years.
The sister also emphasized that, despite everything, she never let her loved ones down when they needed her most. "We never lacked for her in a hospital; she was always there," she wrote.
According to his testimony, the wake and burial went smoothly, surrounded by neighbors, friends, and people from the neighborhood—young and old, as well as those who had shared in his struggles—who did not want to leave him alone in his farewell.
The message concludes with a mix of gratitude and farewell: appreciation for the displays of affection both online and offline, and a final intimate goodbye: “Rest in peace, ‘Pa’.”
The death of Pánfilo, confirmed by his own family, has generated numerous reactions among Cubans who for years viewed him as more than just a viral character.
His figure —shaped by poverty, alcohol, and the harshness of life on the island— ultimately became an uncomfortable reflection of the reality many live.
That man who burst onto a recording in 2009 to shout "what's needed is food" not only became famous: he put into words, unfiltered, a truth that still weighs heavily.
Today, after his death, the memory his sister tries to preserve is not that of the symbol, but that of the human being.
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