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The Cuban activist Anna Bensi (Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente) published a message on X and Facebook this Friday, dismantling one of the pillars of the official regime's discourse: the idea that surviving in misery is an act of patriotism. "Creating miserable pathways to survive is not 'revolutionary consciousness.' They sell us backwardness as heroism. The Dictatorship turned poverty into propaganda," wrote the young woman on her X account, with the hashtags #NoMoreResistance, #DownWithTheDictatorship, and #Freedom.
Bensi, whose full name is Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente, is 21 years old and one of the most prominent critical voices against the regime from within the island. Her denunciation comes while she remains under house arrest, a measure imposed by the authorities on March 25 alongside her mother, Caridad Silvente Laffita, after they were charged with alleged "acts against personal and family privacy" under Article 393 of the Penal Code, with penalties ranging from two to five years in prison.
The persecution began on March 10, 2026, when she recorded and broadcasted the delivery of an irregular police summons by a MININT officer. Since then, the authorities have intensified their harassment: her WhatsApp account was suspended, her family reported hacking and threats, and both women are prohibited from leaving the country. Despite this, Bensi has continued to post.
The message directly targets the narrative that the regime has maintained for decades: to present scarcity as a virtue, attribute the crisis to the American embargo, and urge the population to "resist" as an expression of revolutionary loyalty. Independent data contradict this framing. The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) reported in 2025 that 89% of Cuban families live in extreme poverty and that 97% have lost access to basic food; seven out of ten Cubans have stopped having breakfast, lunch, or dinner due to lack of money or scarcity.
In addition, CEPAL certified in February 2026 that the per capita GDP of Cuba is the lowest in Latin America and the Caribbean. According to data from Cubadata cited by Diario de Cuba in March 2026, 86.6% of Cubans rely on the informal economy to avoid starvation, and the economy has experienced a decline of 12.3% since 2021.
This deterioration has fueled a surge of protests and expressions of discontent: the Cuban Conflict Observatory recorded 1,311 demonstrations in May 2026 and 1,133 in April. Power outages lasting between 20 and 40 hours daily are the main trigger. In Santiago de Cuba, the situation worsened this week with heavy militarization of neighborhoods, and the electric deficit reached a record of 2,113 MW according to the Electric Union.
The post generated an immediate reaction on social media. One user summarized the mechanism denounced by Bensi: “The dictatorship turned misery into resistance, convincing an entire nation that enduring hunger and need is Revolution and that keeping the culprits in power is patriotism.” Another pointed out that “the people do not want to resist, they want to live,” while a third voice warned: “It doesn’t matter the economic opening; the main problem remains in the same place.”
Other comments pointed to the gap between official discourse and everyday life. "They want to put a band-aid on a 50-point wound," wrote one user. "We are tired of surviving and resisting; they are slowly killing us, and no one can adapt to this," added another.
Bensi has been challenging resignation from within the island for months despite house arrest and state pressures. The criminal case against her and her mother is still ongoing, with sentences that could reach up to five years in prison.
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