A Polish tour guide named Ela, who offers Spanish-language tours in Krakow under the brand «Me Gusta Cracovia», recorded an emotional message this Wednesday directed to the Cuban people, encouraging them to overthrow the communist regime, just as Poland did in 1989.
The video was posted by content creator Jany González TV on Instagram and garnered over 8,300 views and 135 comments in just a few hours.
She recorded her message from Nowa Huta, the emblematic Stalinist neighborhood of Krakow built since 1949 as a model socialist city, where a statue of Lenin once stood but no longer exists.
"I'm just a simple Polish woman, and I'm speaking to you from the communist district of Krakow. It's called Nova Juta. Here, 40 years ago, we had Lenin's name written everywhere. And Lenin is no longer here. There are no statues of Lenin or Stalin anymore," Ela said in front of the camera.
The guide drew a direct parallel between the Polish and Cuban experiences: “Cuba has been under a communist regime for over 60 years. How many more years can this go on? Enough is enough.”
She explained how communism fell in her country: «It was years of protests, of banners, people marching in the streets demanding freedom, democracy, we want rights, we want to remove ration cards, we want basic products, we want toilet paper.»
He also recalled that during martial law "900 tanks arrived from Moscow to pacify the Polish protests," but that the decade-long struggle culminated in the democratic transition of 1989.
His central message was a call to action from within: "Let no one come from the outside to change your reality; you must do it yourselves."
She also expressed her personal desire to visit Cuba: "I would really like to visit Cuba and without being watched or investigated, just as a tourist, and to be able to speak freely, so that you can also speak that way."
The meeting between Ela and Jany González occurred during a sightseeing tour in Krakow, when the Polish guide, upon learning about her visitor's Cuban history, insisted on taking her to Nowa Huta to share the memory of what it was like to live under communism.
Ela's message is part of a recent tradition of Polish voices that draw on their historical experience to encourage the Cuban people.
In September 2025, Polish Chancellor Radosław Sikorski presided over the presentation of the Lech Wałęsa Solidarity Award 2025 to Berta Soler, leader of the Ladies in White, with a prize of $275,000, which sparked a public controversy with Cuban Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.
Sikorski then replied that the award "honors those who peacefully fight for freedom" and that "the people of Cuba also deserve it."
In October 2025, Poland abstained in the UN vote on the embargo against Cuba, marking a historic shift from previous positions, alongside other Eastern European countries such as Estonia, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic.
Lech Wałęsa, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1983 and a symbol of the fall of Polish communism, has expressed his support for freedom in Cuba on multiple occasions, promising to visit the island "when it is free" and warning the regime that "it has little time left."
She closed her message with a phrase that resonated strongly among her Cuban followers in the comments: «The Polish case should be an example for you Cubans to change your reality».
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