The Cuban comedian José Carlos Pérez, Carlucho, invited the Cuban community to reflect this Tuesday because, in his opinion, before getting to work on rebuilding the roads, the thermoelectric plants, or any other infrastructure, what Cuba needs to rebuild is the Cuban itself. He said this in a interview with journalist Tania Costa, from Madrid, where the artist has been residing for just over a year.
"No one has considered that the first thing to rebuild is the Cuban. That the first thing to teach the Cuban is to once again say good morning, excuse me, ma'am please sit down, how are you?" Carlucho asserted with conviction, rejecting decades of accumulated cultural damage.
The comedian compared the Cuban of the past with the one of today. He recalled "the gentleman who dressed in 100% cotton, even if he had only one suit, but he wore it every day well-pressed," as a symbol of dignity and decorum that the communist system destroyed.
"People are thinking that we need to bring a lot of asphalt, a lot of cement, and a lot of bricks. And I believe that what we need to bring is a lot of decency," he pointed out, directly addressing the debate about what should be prioritized in a post-dictatorship Cuba.
For Carlucho, the urgency is moral rather than material. "To teach Cubans that it is not necessary to steal in order to live. To show Cubans that there is a way to survive with respect, with honesty, with dignity."
His diagnosis is severe but clear: "We are a triumphant, magnificent, respectful race. And no one has harmed us more than that dictatorship."
One of the hardest moments of his reflection came when he spoke about Cuban youth. He condemned that videos circulating on social media showing the ignorance of teenagers do not bring him laughter but rather shame. "The fact that we can't ask a 16-year-old what year the First or Second World War started... They know absolutely nothing," he lamented.
Carlucho directly blamed the regime. "That is the responsibility of this government, which has changed Martí's history."
The educational crisis in Cuba is well documented. In addition to the shortage of teachers and classes being suspended due to power outages, there is a system that for decades has prioritized political indoctrination over knowledge.
The deterioration is not limited to the classrooms. Carlucho shared a personal anecdote: after his weight loss surgery, a young man greeted him by calling him "tank,” reflecting the crude language and loss of respect that today characterize a part of Cuban youth.
A phenomenon that adds to the stunning scenes of Cuban youth circulating on social media, reflecting the anthropological damage of over 67 years of totalitarian control.
The interview comes at a time when the comedian has many work commitments in Spain. In fact, he is preparing to perform on May 3rd at the Teatro Las Vegas in the Spanish capital alongside Robertico, his former colleague from the group Los Bufomaníacos, in a reunion after 25 years apart. The conversation also touched on the controversy with presenter Carlos Otero, who publicly stated that he would never work with him again.
"I believe that first we need to save the nation and then build all those highways and streets. We must first save our compatriots," concluded Carlucho.
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