A Cuban resident in Tenerife, identified as Lucía Céspedes Ocampo, has gone viral on Facebook after posting a video in which she shouts "Long live Cuba, long live my president Díaz-Canel, down with the blockade" and refers to critics of the Cuban regime as "traitors, despicable worms, bomb throwers, and American bootlickers," all from the comfort of the Canary Islands, Spain.
The video has sparked a wave of criticism for the contradiction it embodies: advocating for Cuban socialism while enjoying European capitalism.
In his own words, Céspedes states that he steps out "with an exposed chest and uncovered face to defend our people" and asserts that he does not care about the opinions of those who "defend genocides, who defend bombings, and who defend Donald Trump."
What it does not explain is why the people it claims to defend are fleeing the island in massive numbers: more than 700,000 Cubans emigrated between 2021 and 2025, and they are constantly protesting against the widespread crisis and the dictatorship, demanding freedom.
In a second video, Céspedes reveals the crown jewel of his argument: to "break the blockade," he organizes the purchase of rice, beans, oil, and hygiene products for the elderly in Cuba from Tenerife, plans to create community gardens, raise laying hens, and acquire an electric tricycle among several collaborators. "This way, the blockade is broken," he explains with complete seriousness.
The irony is hard to overlook: the same woman who insults the "gusano exile" needs the money earned in Spanish capitalism to buy rice for Cuban grandparents, implicitly acknowledging that the state she defends is incapable of providing the most basic necessities for its citizens. Céspedes even encourages other Cubans abroad to invest in the island, specifically appealing to that diaspora she refers to as "traitors."
Internet users did not let the contradiction go unnoticed. "Defending socialism while living in a capitalist country, how brazen can you be? Bootlicker of the dictatorship that oppresses its own people, the very blockade is the PCC," wrote one user. Another was more straightforward: "The people want freedom, keep wasting the megabytes they pay you to speak in favor of the dictatorship." A third reminded him: "That exile you call worms are the ones supplying the island 99 percent of the time, unlike your stubborn executioners who are now begging for foreign investment to come in."
The context in which the video appears makes its stance even more striking. On March 29, hundreds of Cubans gathered at the Plaza de España in Santa Cruz de Tenerife under the slogan "Freedom is this year," chanting "Down with Díaz-Canel" and "Homeland and Life." Céspedes, therefore, swims against the prevailing current of the Canary diaspora.
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