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The former spy Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, national coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution and one of the so-called "Five Heroes," published a series of messages on his social media that, rather than discrediting the protests that erupted in Havana, ultimately implied that demonstrating on the island comes with a real cost.
Everything started when Hernández captured the post of exiled singer Yotuel, who wrote "Let's go SAN MIGUEL" in support of the protests on Wednesday night in Havana, to which the former spy added the text: "Come on, do what I didn't have the courage to do," in a mocking tone.
The message aimed to mock Yotuel for encouraging protests from exile.
However, the phrase had the opposite effect: by stating that he himself "did not have the courage" to do what he asks of others, Hernández inadvertently acknowledged that protesting in Cuba requires a bravery that comes with consequences.
In another post, the official was even more explicit: "It's less dangerous to watch it on TV from a couch over a thousand miles away...," he wrote, referring to the exiled Cubans who support the demonstrations from outside the island.
The phrase confirms what the regime never openly acknowledges: that going out on the streets in Cuba is dangerous.
Hernández published a second image with the text: "This morning we have fewer containers to throw away the trash, and we still have less oil due to the blockade, which leads to more blackouts."
The publication directly referred to the burning of trash containers during the nighttime protests in various parts of the capital, and blamed the U.S. embargo for the fuel shortages and blackouts, in line with the official narrative of the regime.
The protests that triggered these reactions were the most intense of the year in Havana.
On Wednesday night, a combination of pot banging, anti-communist slogans, container burning, and street blockades were reported simultaneously in Lawton, Luyanó, Santo Suárez, Guanabacoa, Marianao, Puentes Grandes, and other capital municipalities.
The trigger was the worst energy crisis of the year: the Electric Union reported a record deficit of 2,113 MW at 8:40 PM on Wednesday, with power outages lasting up to 22 hours a day in some circuits of the capital.
This is not the first time that Hernández has created the opposite effect of what he intended with his social media posts.
In January of this year, he was already involved in a similar controversy by sarcastically sharing an opposition graffiti, unintentionally promoting the slogan "Cuba pa' la calle".
The Cuban Observatory of Conflicts recorded 1,133 protests just in April 2026, a 29.5% increase compared to the same month of the previous year, reflecting a sustained upward trend in social unrest on the island.
Yotuel, co-author of "Homeland and Life" and the anthem of July 11, 2021, has been encouraging each wave of demonstrations from exile for months. In February of this year, he called upon the Cuban people to take to the streets "demanding freedom, demanding homeland and life," and in March, he responded with similar messages to the protests in Morón, in Camagüey.
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