Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba, appeared with noticeable tremors in his hands during the parliamentary session broadcast on official television this Thursday, while urging lawmakers to present concrete proposals, which sparked a wave of reactions on social media.
The incident occurred during the Third Extraordinary Session of the X Legislature, held on June 18 and called to order by Agreement 599-X/2026 of the Council of State to discuss 176 proposals grouped into 23 economic and social axes, including labor policy, energy system, and greater autonomy for state-owned enterprises.
The Assembly approved a package of reforms to liberalize the Cuban economy at the end of the day.
The video posted on social media garnered over 608,000 views and 1,633 comments within a few hours, turning the official's health status into a public debate.
Several users with medical knowledge agreed that the observed movement corresponds to the so-called "coin-counting sign," a resting tremor associated with Parkinson's disease.
"It is called a coin-counting sign. It is a resting tremor that can worsen with emotional stress or fatigue and decreases with voluntary movements. It disappears completely during sleep. It is a classic and very common sign in Parkinson's disease," wrote one of the commentators.
Another user added that the tremor was not due to minor causes: "No caffeine, dear friend; that's Parkinson's, and he also has serious issues with his cardiopulmonary system. Notice the pauses he takes and the shortness of breath."
A third comment specified that "the characteristic tremor of Parkinson's disease typically starts in one hand and resembles the motion of counting coins between the fingers," although it noted that when the tremor is bilateral, other causes such as anxiety, medications, or hypoglycemia should be considered.
There is no official medical diagnosis or statement from the Cuban regime regarding Lazo's health status. The lack of transparency about the health of leaders is a common practice of the system on the island, which has also not provided information about the physical condition of former president Raúl Castro, who recently turned 95 years old and whose public appearances have become increasingly rare.
Lazo, 82 years old, is one of the longest-serving figures of power in Cuba. A deputy in the National Assembly since 1981 and a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party, he has presided over both the National Assembly and the Council of State since the VIII Legislature in February 2013.
In May 2025, the official was spotted on vacation with Beatriz Johnson enjoying a pool and beer at private facilities while Cuba endured power outages of over 10 hours a day.
In March of that same year, he traveled to Moscow to lead the Collaboration Commission between the Parliaments of Cuba and Russia, where he met with the Foreign Minister Serguéi Lavrov.
In July 2023, Lazo was involved in a tense exchange with lawmakers over the failure of the food policy, when he asked: "How long are we going to be in this situation?".
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