A nine-second reel posted on Instagram by the user Jonhy King became one of the most shared political memes among Cubans both on and off the island this week, using the popular song Un Tin as a vehicle for direct mockery of the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel.
The video, accompanied by the phrase “I've got a little left,” ironically plays with the lyrics of the song performed by Payaso x Ley and Rowell urban, along with the popular Cuban meaning of “un tin”: “a little bit.”
The expression quickly opened up political interpretations among users, referring to what little seems to be left for the country today: fuel, electricity, institutional credibility, or maneuvering room for the regime itself.
The meme arrives at a time of extreme crisis. On May 14, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, publicly admitted that Cuba "has absolutely no fuel oil or diesel", with power outages exceeding 20 to 22 hours a day in Havana.
On that same day, the director of the CIA, John Ratcliffe, traveled to Havana to deliver a message from President Donald Trump to the regime, being the highest-ranking official from the administration to set foot on Cuban soil. The U.S. government demanded "fundamental changes" as a condition for any rapprochement.
Political humor as resistance has a long tradition in Cuba, and it has intensified in 2026. Since January, following the capture of Nicolás Maduro, social media was flooded with memes about Díaz-Canel's fear of meeting the same fate as his ally.
In March, his noticeable physical decline sparked another wave of mockery. In April, his statements about a possible "guerrilla war" garnered nearly 3,000 ironic comments in less than 24 hours. The Un Tin meme is the latest link in that chain of digital satire.
The song that serves as the vehicle for the meme is, in itself, a phenomenon. Un Tin de Payaso x Ley y Rowell Urban, released on April 20 under the Befocus Music label, has garnered over 6,442,797 views on YouTube in just two weeks, with nearly one million monthly listeners on Spotify.
The piece is notable for its unprecedented fusion of a Cuban cast with classical operatic singing in the introduction, something that has not been documented before in the genre.
Payaso x Ley celebrated six million alongside Rowell Urban with a video on Instagram. "Six million in one week, in two weeks. We've been overwhelmed for two weeks, thank you for the support."
Trump summarized the situation of the regime from Air Force One with a phrase that echoes the meme. "You talk about a country in decline; they are truly a nation in decline. So let's see," he said.
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