The Cuban Anarelys Abascal, a content creator, published a reel titled "A Day With Me Living in Cuba" in which she documents her daily routine after voluntarily returning to the island from Costa Rica, and the video sparked a flood of criticism from her followers.
In the clip, Abascal casually highlights the hardships she faces on a daily basis: a whole night without electricity, extreme heat that forced her to fan herself with a piece of cardboard, and the uncertainty regarding when there will be power to wash the sheets.
"Well, why should I tell you that we had no electricity all night? You already know that. And no, it's not that I'm complaining," he says in the video casually.
It also mentions that she has to wait for the electricity to return in order to do the laundry: "And there is nothing, and I have to leave them back there to see how long it will take for the power to come back so I can wash them."
Abascal jokingly mentioned that he brought household items, bathroom accessories, and even decor from Costa Rica in his suitcase: "How did the hen that lays the eggs come all the way here from Costa Rica? Just imagine, she was the first to board the plane."
At the end of the video, the content creator celebrates that at least that day they haven't cut off the water: "The lucky part is that there is water and they haven't taken it away from me; otherwise, I think I would do something drastic."
The reaction from his followers was mixed. Some celebrate that he feels good to be back on the island, alongside his family, without carrying the nostalgia and longing for his loved ones, emphasizing that everyone should be where they feel comfortable.
Others, however, launched strong criticisms of his decision to leave a country with stable electricity, water, and peace to return to the island.
"Leaving Costa Rica to return to Cuba is something I'll never understand," wrote one of his followers.
Another comment highlighted the impact on her son: "There are people who simply get used to living in complacency and misery, how sad. And change is NOT easy, but just for the sake of living better and having quality of life for your baby, it was worth fighting for."
A third user was more direct: "Unfortunately, she had the opportunity to know freedom and give her son freedom, but she didn't take it. It's sad for the poor child to have to grow up in hardships and misery just because his mother found it too challenging to step out of her comfort zone."
There were also those who announced that they would stop following her: "I'm sorry, I neither add to you nor take away from you, but I don't want to follow you anymore... I don't want to understand you, I don't accept those unfounded excuses."
"And to think that you like that life, how sad," summarized a follower in the comment that best captures the prevailing sentiment among those who cannot understand why someone would choose to go back.
The case of Abascal is not isolated. In recent weeks, other Cubans living abroad have announced their definitive return to the island, sparking similar debates on social media. Yaniuska López, known as "La Cubanita," announced her return from Angola, and Lisandra Acevedo Évora returned from Miami in 2025, citing the high cost of living and feelings of loneliness.
Cuba is going through one of its worst energy crises in 2026, with power outages exceeding 20 hours a day in several provinces and a generation deficit that exceeds 1,700 MW during peak nighttime hours, a lack of medicines, collapse of basic services, and constantly rising inflation. However, these challenges do not seem to be enough to deter this content creator from returning to the island.
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