The Spanish presenter Jesús Vázquez sparked a wave of criticism on social media due to a TikTok video in which he reminisced about his trip to Cuba and attributed the island's precarious situation to the "blockade," igniting the anger of Cubans who outright rejected that explanation.
The clip, published last Thursday by the official Atresplayer account, shows Vázquez sharing an anecdote about how he traveled to the island believing that no one would recognize him, only to be surprised by customs officers who asked for photos.
"Let's go to Cuba in a relaxed way, so nobody will recognize us," said the host, who explained that Cubans receive Spanish content through packages of programs that circulate from hand to hand.
The phrase that sparked the controversy came when Vázquez justified why Cubans gather around a single television in each building: "Maybe there's one TV in the building because, of course, due to the blockade, things are getting worse."
The comments section turned into a wall of reproaches.
"They say that the situation is worse because of the blockade. Sir, Cuba is suffering due to the murderous DICTATORSHIP," "Regarding the blockade, they claim that there’s no signal in Cuba, meaning that the blockade is responsible for the lack of satellite reception, but my dear sir, it’s the dictatorship that punishes you for violating telecommunications laws," "From their luxury hotels, these progressives whitewash the dictatorship," or "You have been to Cuba, but you haven't grasped any fundamental truths; the dictatorship has devastated its people. It would be interesting if someone in the media, like you, could explain the reality," some users have said.
Another user reminded him that during his visit, he took a photo in Plaza de la Revolución "with a gigantic image of the psychopath who liquidated homosexuals," referring to the Cuban regime's history with the LGBTQ+ community, a particularly striking detail considering that Vázquez is an openly homosexual public figure.
What Vázquez inaccurately described as program packages is actually the "Weekly Package," the informal distribution system of audiovisual content that circulates in Cuba through hard drives and USB flash drives, with approximately one terabyte of movies, series, and international programs each week.
This system emerged precisely in response to the low internet connectivity and the limited offerings of state-controlled Cuban television.
The visit mentioned by the presenter took place during Holy Week of 2018.
The video closed with a joke from the host: "I'm more famous in Cuba than in Spain," a phrase that went without controversy compared to the weight of his reference to the "blockade," which captured the full indignation of those who are intimately familiar with the reality of the Cuban dictatorship.
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