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The former leader of the Spanish party Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, posted a message in English on X in which he defended the government of Díaz-Canel and blamed the U.S. embargo as the main cause of the suffering of the Cuban people, leading to an outpouring of furious responses from Cuban netizens who unanimously rejected his argument.
"Donald Trump is suffocating the Cuban people with economic sanctions and an even harsher blockade than any before, and he threatens military intervention on a weekly basis," he wrote.
"Think about what that means. Imagine the suffering that the blockade and the ban on fuel imports are causing the people. Why are they treating Cuba this way?" he asked.
Iglesias, who visited Cuba in March as part of the humanitarian flotilla "Nuestra América Convoy to Cuba," admitted to being "aware of how fed up many segments of the population are with the Cuban government." Nevertheless, he stated that he will not criticize it while there is U.S. pressure on the Island.
It also rhetorically asked what its role as a "European leftist" is: "Criticizing the Cuban government? Giving a platform to anti-communist elements that already have a permanent presence in all major Western media?".
His conclusion was simple: "decency today requires defending both the Cuban people and their government."
The response from the Cubans was immediate and forceful. "The only thing decency demands is freedom for Cuba after 67 years of dictatorship. Stop speaking for us, ask Cubans what we want. Tell your friends in the government to have some decency, release the political prisoners, and hold free elections," wrote an internet user.
Another user was straightforward in pointing out the true culprit: "The one who suffocates the Cubans is Díaz-Canel and all the freeloaders who live it up at the expense of the people."
Several comments pointed out the contradiction between Iglesias' rhetoric and his behavior in Cuba. Iglesias stayed in the Grand Suite of the Gran Hotel Bristol Habana Vieja Meliá Collection, a five-star hotel with rooms costing over 200 euros per night, from where he recorded videos downplaying the crisis.
"We already saw how you defended the Cuban people when you went there; I'm still waiting to see the tons of aid that the TimoFlotilla brought and that the Cuban people received. What we did see was you whitewashing the dictatorship," reproached another internet user.
Other comments demanded that Iglesias speak about political prisoners: "The same regime you defend is killing the people of Cuba. You should talk about political prisoners and underage political prisoners and the torture they are subjected to, but you remain silent."
Prisoners Defenders documented 1,214 political prisoners in Cuba at the end of February, a historic record, with 31 arrested being minors.
Irony was not absent either: "He went to Cuba and, interestingly, did not see repression, censorship, political prisoners, or corruption of the regime. Exactly the same narrative they have tried to sell about Venezuela for years. When ideology outweighs reality, this is what happens."
A Venezuelan user took the opportunity to share their own message: "Thank you, President Donald Trump, for taking Nicolás Maduro away. All Venezuelans are grateful to you, and you will be remembered for generations. We hope you do the same in Cuba soon. Long live freedom and democracy."
Iglesias' tweet comes at a time when the Cuban regime is registering record figures of repression: the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights documented at least 366 repressive actions just in April 2026, and Díaz-Canel's Easter pardon explicitly excluded political prisoners, dissenters, and demonstrators from 11J.
"The PCC in Cuba has been suffocating Cubans for over six decades. Where have you been, dictator-in-training?" summarized another internet user, reflecting the majority opinion of those responding to the Spanish politician.
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