The Cuban comedian Jorge Díaz Valera posted a video on Facebook that has become a comedic -and devastating- portrait of the transport crisis in Cuba: the renowned actor René de la Cruz appears visibly frightened at a subway station in Madrid after missing a train, unaware that another would arrive in just two minutes.
The scene, recorded at one of the busiest stations located under the central Puerta del Sol, shows Díaz trying to calm his colleague with a phrase that sounds almost like science fiction to any Cuban: "Another one will be here in two minutes."
The video shows the timely arrival of the next train, just as Díaz had promised, to Renecito's astonishment.
"My brother, this is not where you were. You're not over there, you are here now," he emphasized.
The post says it all: "Look at what it’s like to be nervous about transportation, Renecito scared in the metro of Madrid."
The video has accumulated over 130,000 views and summarizes in 35 seconds what decades of dictatorship have done to Cuban public transportation: turning normality into a miracle worthy of awe.
The humor of the clip hits hard because the contrast is striking with the reality of Cuba, where the scarcity of fuel, combined with an aging and deteriorated vehicle fleet, has led to reductions in bus and train services across the country.
Meanwhile, the Madrid Metro operates with intervals of just two minutes between trains during peak hours. That is exactly what left Renecito speechless.
Jorge Díaz Valera, based in Madrid since September 2023, is one of the most active Cuban comedians on social media since the diaspora. In February 2024, he performed alongside singer-songwriter David Álvarez in the show "Dos cubañoles al tiro", winning over the Cuban audience in Spain.
Renecito de la Cruz is the son of the legendary actor René de la Cruz (1931-2007) and has built a strong career in theater, television, radio, and film.
He has toured Spain multiple times alongside musician David Álvarez, with performances in Madrid, Valencia, Cádiz, and Alicante. In an interview with CiberCuba in April 2023, the actor reflected on Cuban unity: "Cuba must continue to unite and continue to love each other. Let's not allow those from there or those from here to separate us."
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