A monologue featuring the Cuban actress Yia Caamaño became one of the most discussed videos in the online Cuban community this weekend.
The video was published on Instagram where it has accumulated more than 100,000 views in less than 24 hours and over 12,600 likes. It is titled "They Should Leave" and is based on a text by the Cuban playwright Freddys Núñez Estenoz. The direction is by Caamaño herself and the Cuban filmmaker Jhona Tome, who also took on the cinematography and editing.
The monologue carries a message for the leaders of the Cuban regime. From the very first moment, Caamaño's voice leaves no room for ambiguity: "They should leave, pack their bags, fill them with all their millions, and go. I sincerely wish them bad luck on their journey. I sincerely wish them the worst."
The text offers no forgiveness nor does it seek any. "Don’t ask for forgiveness, it’s unnecessary. There is no forgiveness possible," says the actress, before moving on to one of the most powerful images that alludes directly to the blackouts that suffocate Cuba.
"They should leave at dawn, when no one is asleep. Because it's been a long time since anyone has slept. Too much darkness to be able to sleep, too much darkness to be able to dream."
Far from nostalgia, the text transforms memory into a warning. “We will not miss them, we will remember them. Remembering them is the only way to prevent this catastrophe from happening again.”
The monologue culminates in a vision of hope for the Cuban diaspora, which in recent years has reached historic levels of emigration.
"They should leave, and they will see how thousands come back. What am I saying, thousands? Millions, and we will break the record for the most hugs in a single night," says Caamaño, before the most striking conclusion of the text: "Because it would be wonderful to celebrate their non-existence."
Caamaño is one of the most recognized actresses in Cuban television, starring in telenovelas such as Asuntos pendientes and El rostro de los días. Since February 2023, she has been residing in Miami and obtained permanent residency in the United States in May 2024.
The author of the text, Freddys Núñez Estenoz, is a playwright from Camagüey and the founder of the Teatro del Viento collective, known for both his stage work and his public denunciations of the health crisis and state abandonment in Cuba.
The fact that his text was already circulating on social media before being adapted to audiovisual format suggests that the monologue had prior resonance within the Cuban community.
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