A Cuban resident abroad, known on TikTok as BellaMadi (@madiavelis), posted a nearly four-minute video this past Sunday in which she explains why she has cut off communication with friends and acquaintances in Cuba, and announces that she will continue to do so.
BellaMadi makes it clear from the outset that she is not talking about her immediate family, but rather "so-called friends," and she dispels the widespread notion on the island that emigrants "drink the Coca-Cola of forgetfulness." For her, the reason is different: opportunism.
"The one over there is not very aware of the situation of the one here on the other side. And that’s exactly why I cut off communication with many so-called friends or acquaintances," he explains in the video.
According to BellaMadi, whenever she tries to engage in a genuine conversation with people in Cuba, they respond with complaints about power outages and quickly steer the topic towards specific requests: phone top-ups, money transfers, or various types of assistance.
“When you initiate a conversation with them, they are just waiting to find out when you can send a top-up, whether you can send them money, or when you’re going to see them, or if you can help them with this or that,” he describes.
What hurts her the most, she says, is the lack of reciprocity. "No one in Cuba ever asks how you are," she asserts, detailing that those people are not interested in knowing if she was unwell at work, if she ate that day, or if she is going through a moment of work-related stress.
Contrast that indifference with the speed of response when it comes to asking for something. "When it comes to asking me for a favor, for money, for anything, the message was incredibly quick," she points out, adding that they would call her incessantly without respecting her work or rest hours.
BellaMadi emphasizes that the only thing she sought by reaching out was to be heard. "Please, listen to me, and I never received any response," she says. She also clarifies that she never asked any friends for money, not even when she lived in Cuba, except for her father "out of obligation."
This dynamic, she notes, is not limited to Cuba: she has also experienced it with acquaintances in Mexico and other countries. "I have sung their forty truths to many people," she asserts.
The testimony of BellaMadi reflects a well-documented tension in the Cuban emigrant community: those who leave the island automatically become expected economic providers for those who remain. Reloads to Cuba and remittances are the most common channels of support, and sending them from abroad operates through ETECSA, the Cuban state operator.
In April 2026, another viral Cuban on TikTok recounted how a childhood friend in Cuba demanded her help to find a Spanish man to emigrate with, and when she refused, their friendship ended.
The energy and economic crisis in Cuba —with prolonged blackouts and widespread shortages— exacerbates these dynamics, but the burden falls disproportionately on emigrants, who face their own challenges of adaptation and uncertainty abroad.
"We simply realize who the opportunistic, selfish people are, who don't care about us at all, and the only thing that matters to them is what we, the ones who are here suffering, can give them," concludes BellaMadi.
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