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The state media Cubadebate published an article on Tuesday titled "Trash Journalism: CiberCuba monetizes the pain of Cuban children," authored by their so-called Media Observatory, which accuses our news portal of repeatedly exposing images of minors in vulnerable contexts and violating current Cuban legislation.
However, the publication had an immediate and opposite effect to what was intended, in good Cuban fashion, it backfired: almost 90% of the comments on the very post from Cubadebate questioned, contradicted, or ridiculed the official media.
Nothing, the officials forgot two important points: that practice is the criterion of truth, and that we work to inform people, and the latter speak loud and clear.
"While Cubadebate claimed that they are monetizing pain, it is also affirming that this pain and vulnerability exist," wrote one of the users, highlighting the central contradiction of the text.
Other comments were just as direct: "They show it, you provoke it," "They talk about what you silence," and "They don't monetize it, they teach it, that you hide it, which is even worse."
Several users pointed out the double standard of the official media: a quick search on Google shows that Cubadebate regularly publishes news about children in vulnerable situations in the United States, Gaza, and other countries, framed as criticism of capitalism or imperialism, while remaining silent on the situation of minors in Cuba.
"And you publish absolutely everything bad that happens in the U.S. but none of the social issues in Cuba," summarized a commentator.
The most pointed remark focused on the regime's own practices with children: "And when you put them on social media parading and reciting speeches and slogans, isn't that using them in the same way?"
The question is backed by documented evidence. The regime repeatedly and mandatorily uses children from the age of six in the José Martí Pioneer Organization, where they receive uniforms and participate in daily ideological pledges.
Adolescents aged 14 to 17 receive pre-military training wearing olive green uniforms as part of the Union of Communist Youth and the Revolutionary Armed Forces.
Children are always present in the regime's political events as a tool for propaganda.
Users also recalled what Cubadebate never mentions: that the regime detained at least between 45 and 59 minors under 18 years old following the protests on July 11, 2021, some facing prosecution requests of up to 18 years in prison.
Three minors aged between 12 and 14 were detained in Ministry of Interior centers in Matanzas and remained in custody for nearly a year.
"Ah, but having 16-year-old kids in prison is not bad, is it?" asked another commentator.
The article from Cubadebate cites the Family Code (Law 156/2022) and the Code for Childhood, Adolescence, and Youth (Law 178/2025) as legal frameworks that have allegedly been violated.
The irony did not go unnoticed: those same rules, which prohibit the political exploitation of minors, would also be applicable to the practices of the regime itself.
This attack is part of a documented pattern. The Media Observatory of Cubadebate launched a campaign in November 2025 against independent accounts on the social network X, labeling CiberCuba, elTOQUE, Cubanet, and Diario de Cuba as "instruments of destabilization."
In January 2026, accused over forty popular video games of "politicizing" by depicting Cuba with negative stereotypes.
"Nobody profits and becomes wealthier from the pain of Cubans more than the PCC," concluded one of the commentators, summarizing the prevailing sentiment of those who responded to the post.
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