A video published on Facebook by the user Yoel G. López, titled "Which one won?", shows a strength competition between two agricultural tractors in Cuba that has ignited the passion of thousands of internet users.
The dynamic is as simple as it is spectacular: two tractors chained back to back try to pull each other in a mechanical face-off, somewhat reminiscent of the game, more commonly played among men, of "arm wrestling" to see who is stronger.
The protagonists of the duel are a "Yun" —with MTZ-80 engine delivering 80 horsepower— and a modern "Yumz", both of Soviet-Belarusian origin and the backbone of Cuban agriculture for decades.
Several commentators place the competition in Villa Clara.
Darien Guerra proudly sums it up: "Both are doing well, Villa Clara is going strong."
One of the tractors is identified as belonging to an operator nicknamed Idelito.
Lázaro Iturralde does not hold back in his praise: "The yumz of Idelito, the terror of Sagua and Santo Domingo."
The debate in the comments is as technical as it is passionate. Mar Rey Peña diagnoses the Yun problem: "There's a lack of pilot in the Yun, it's pulling simply, it needs to multiply by 4."
Elier Morejón agrees: "The problem I see is that they set a very long speed, and the yoke gets stuck a lot."
Reinaldo Junco Muñoz goes deeper into the mechanical details: "The 80-horsepower engine is great, but the injection pump doesn't keep up." Lázaro Domínguez adds another variable: "The high castle goes downhill while the other one goes uphill," suggesting an advantage in terrain.
There are certainly dedicated fans. José Ávila declares with conviction, "Dad is Dad yun." Ricael Martínez, more even-tempered, simply refers to them as "two beasts." And Yuliex Leal concludes with respect: "My respects to that yun operator with an 80 engine."
There are also critical voices. Yurkis Yurkis delivers the most direct accusation: "Get to planting and stop the nonsense." José Luis Prado Rivero points to another sensitive issue: "They have enough oil to spend," referring to the chronic fuel shortage that the Island is suffering from.
Abel Rodríguez adds the final irony regarding the state of Cuba's agricultural park: "And then to stop, there are no parts."
Although the video does not explicitly show that there are bets, the context makes it more than likely. Luis Zayas Guerrero drops a suggestive phrase: "The only ones who didn't know they would lose were the real owners," implying that there was something of value at stake—and that the machines, possibly state-owned, were not running on their own account.
Illegal betting is prohibited in Cuba and penalized by Article 219 of the Penal Code, with sentences ranging from one to three years of imprisonment or fines. However, this practice is common in informal competitions across the Cuban countryside, from motorcycle races to songbird fights, where popular entertainment thrives in the face of a scarcity of leisure options.
This is not the first time a tractor competition has gone viral in Cuba: a similar video circulated in 2018, evidence that this tradition has deep roots in the island's rural ingenuity.
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