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Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, national coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution and member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba, published on Facebook this Monday a meme asking the writers of CiberCuba what they would live on if they succeeded in "overthrowing the regime," and the users responded by returning the question back to him.
The post, made from his account "Gerardo de Los Cinco," read: "A question for the Cybermercenaries of the Hate Industry in Miami: If you manage to bring down 'the regime,' how will you make a living?"
The meme included a photograph of Donald Trump, a red map of Cuba, and was accompanied by the comment "They should get to work!" along with the hashtags #CDRCuba #CubaNoSeRinde #LaPatriaSeDefiende.
The publication occurred in the context of the reports about possible military options by Trump against Cuba, which Politico revealed this Monday, leading many users to perceive Hernández's question as particularly inappropriate.
The reaction in the comments was overwhelmingly ironic and opposed to the regime official.
Dozens of users responded directly: "Worry about how you’re going to live," wrote one internet user. "That’s what you’ll have to do: work, because you live off the government," added another user.
Some pointed to Hernández's personal trajectory, who was sentenced in the United States to two life sentences for conspiracy to commit espionage before being released in 2014 as part of the diplomatic agreement between Barack Obama and Raúl Castro.
"You really don’t need to worry about that, because you would have your breakfast, lunch, and dinner guaranteed. And accommodation. You already have experience," a Cuban wrote, referring directly to the years Hernández spent in prison in the United States.
A second wave of mockery emerged when several users noticed that Hernández himself used the word "regime" in his meme. "I like this because in your statement you acknowledge that this is a regime," pointed out one user. "He admitted that it is a regime," noted another user.
One commentator was more straightforward: "It’s easy for someone who has spent their whole life reporting to now control a mass organization that watches over people in their homes."
For her part, a Cuban summed up the feelings of many: "You are scared because you are the one who lives well without working while the people are breaking their backs working for a miserable salary."
This is not the first time that Hernández's posts on social media have generated massive reactions of rejection. In recent weeks, he had mocked "voluntary informants" tracking U.S. military flights, shared videos of Cubans dancing at political events, and asked Washington to send an oil ship instead of the 100 million dollars in humanitarian aid announced by Marco Rubio.
Each of those posts was met with similar mockery from users who contrasted the official discourse with the everyday crisis of blackouts, food shortages, and repression faced by the Cuban people.
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