A Cuban resident in Spain publicly denounced his father, Ernesto Marcos Montoya, an employee of the state-owned and sole Telecommunications Company of Cuba S.A. (Etecsa), after seeing him marching this Friday with a cup in hand at the event for May Day in the Antonio Maceo Plaza in Santiago de Cuba, while he supports him financially from abroad.
The case was reported by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada in a video shared on Facebook titled "My cup is not made of glass, but my son's money is."
In the clip, the father appears in a festive and defiant tone: "This is my cup. My cup is not made of glass, just like my heart. This is for my son in Spain… Joy is what we have here. Long live a free Cuba!"
Montoya, involved in the inspection of underwater fiber optic cables in the Siboney area, also issued a direct provocation to the United States government. "Let the beast come; we're waiting for it."
The son publicly responded through Mayeta Labrada with a message that blends sorrow and frustration. "I'm completely sad. I wake up at 5:30 a.m., and I see so many messages that only care about the financial help and seeing this now disappoints me. They even told me I'm the disappointment of the family. But they don't stop asking for money."
Despite the disappointment, it was the son himself who authorized the release of the video with a phrase that says it all: "Even if he's my blood, post it Mayeta."
The father tried to justify himself in writing, arguing that "walking in a conga does not mean there is no hunger," that he is not a communist but a patriot, and that "meanwhile, we will drink beer and enjoy ourselves."
The May Day parade in Santiago de Cuba was marked by allegations of forced participation. Dozens of recently released ex-prisoners were compelled to march under the threat of losing legal benefits or returning to prison, and children were taken out of their schools to swell the ranks.
The central event in Havana was presided over by Raúl Castro, aged 94, alongside the ruling Miguel Díaz-Canel, in a country facing daily power outages of more than 20 hours and a projected economic contraction of 7.2% for 2026.
The reaction on social media was immediate and outraged. "There are many like this; they live off those from over there and defend those from here, hypocrites, two-faced," wrote Sabina P. Rabel.
Martha Ruiz was more direct in stating that "no more remittances, no more combos, let them sustain themselves with their own revolutionary poison."
Other users pointed to a deeper pattern. "The problem is that they are trained and threatened by tyranny," noted Yudel López Rojas, while Ruben Salmon compared the case to those who "have Stockholm syndrome" and yet still continue to ask for top-ups and remittances.
The phenomenon is not new. In 2019, the Cuban Yashell Uranga demonstrated from Dallas, Texas, how he carried tires for three hours to earn the 20 or 30 dollars needed for a recharge for Cuba.
In December 2025, another Cuban in the United States went viral showing his frozen hands clearing snow while explaining the real value of every peso sent to the island.
Approximately 223,000 Cubans currently reside in Spain, and 77% of Cuban emigrants send some form of financial assistance to their families on the island, according to data from the National Office of Statistics and Information.
"Even if he is my blood, raise him up Mayeta," said the son. A phrase that, for thousands of Cubans abroad who support their loved ones from afar, encapsulates a contradiction that hurts more than any blackout.
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