A moment of technical negligence revealed the character of Arleen Rodríguez Derivet, the star host of Mesa Redonda, who scolded her production team live on air with the microphone open during the program's broadcast this Saturday.
The incident occurred at the beginning of the program titled "The country's measures against the escalation of the energy blockade." The production was supposed to cut directly to the broadcast of Miguel Díaz-Canel's words, but it returned to the set, catching Rodríguez Derivet by surprise.
With the microphone on and live broadcasting underway, the host asked with an annoyed tone: “Why did you come back to me?!” The phrase was captured in the live signal and was heard by viewers before the cut announced by the presenter began.
The program for that day aimed to amplify and advocate to the public a package of economic reforms announced by Díaz-Canel earlier that morning, in response to the sanctions imposed the day before by Secretary of State Marco Rubio against Unión Cuba-Petróleo (CUPET).
The presenter’s negligence and reaction contrast sharply with Rodríguez Derivet's carefully crafted image as the "kind and maternal" spokesperson of the regime.
The journalist, deputy director of the Round Table, has a close relationship with Díaz-Canel, who publicly referred to her as "soul sister" and celebrated her José Martí National Journalism Award for Lifetime Achievement in March 2024.
It's not the first time Arleen has found herself in an awkward moment on screen. In January 2026, she tried to justify the blackouts with the phrase "José Martí didn't know electric light and he was a genius", a statement that sparked a wave of criticism and forced her to publicly correct herself by citing a lesson from Fidel Castro.
In April 2026, she returned to social media to praise Díaz-Canel calling him a "man of love."
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