Javier Martín Gutiérrez, known as "Spiderman" and champion of mixed martial arts from the Cuban Fighting League, completed this Monday his fifth consecutive day of peaceful protest from the balcony of his home on Avenue 31 in Havana, facing the El Lido terminal, openly challenging the Cuban regime without any response from the authorities.
In the video shared by rapper and activist El Funky (Eliecer Márquez Duany) from his exile in Miami, Spiderman delivered a statement that summarizes his stance: "Communism is dead! There are no communists! Who supports this? There is no one in favor, no one against. There is no State Security, no president, no police. Fifth day! Groups of crazies!"
The athlete explained the paralysis of Cuban society as a psychological phenomenon: "That’s cognitive dissonance, a sheet in the brain that always tells you the negative sides of things and the bad that can happen because we are good, but if you speak out, you get imprisoned."
He also rejected the accusations from those who labeled him as unstable: "I am not crazy, I do not have any psychological issues. The psychological problem is with them."
On Sunday, Spiderman had been even more direct: "I’m not crazy, I’m tired. I haven't put anything in my body for years. I’m doing very well mentally, physically, and spiritually."
In previous videos, the wrestler denounced the extreme inequality faced on the island: "There are women scavenging from the trash and children eating from the garbage, while there are people who have everything. There is no equality, even in poverty."
He also directly challenged the authorities: "Come for me. Shoot with whatever you want", although he warned that he feared nighttime reprisals: "At night, they will definitely take me down."
El Funky summarized it like this: "It has been manifesting peacefully for days and has not stopped asking for freedom; however, it has not received any support from the Cuban people, and freedom is for everyone, but no one is fighting for it."
Spiderman's actions have received support from figures in the Cuban activism community.
The activist Anamely Ramos, associated with the San Isidro Movement, called for "the greatest possible visibility" for the case and warned the regime: "Are you going to hunt this young man with your hordes of hired thugs? Know that if you do, it will highlight even more the outrageous lie of the one who claims to be president."
Ramos's reference directly points to the statements made by Miguel Díaz-Canel before journalist Kristen Welker on the Meet the Press program from NBC News on April 13, where the president claimed that in Cuba no one is arrested for expressing themselves and denied the existence of political prisoners.
The Spiderman protest occurs at the worst humanitarian moment Cuba has faced since the Special Period of the 1990s.
According to the Food Monitor Program, 96.91% of the population lacks adequate access to food, deaths from malnutrition increased by 74% between 2022 and 2023, and the country is experiencing blackouts of up to twenty hours a day exacerbated by the cut in Venezuelan oil supply.
"One must overcome the fear and despair that have been instilled in us for decades. Cubans deserve to live," wrote Anamely Ramos as she joined the call for visibility regarding the case of the fighter from Havana.
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