Lucía Céspedes Ocampo, the Cuban resident in Tenerife who has gone viral several times for publicly defending the regime from Spain, posted a new video on Facebook in which she claims that the economic opening in Cuba will not worsen inequality, as long as the socialist state requires companies and entrepreneurs to invest a portion of their profits in the most vulnerable people.
"It will not widen the gap of inequality. For that, the socialist state must be clear that it has to demand from companies and entrepreneurs, from MIPIMES, from TCP, from business owners, and from large corporations that may come to the country, that part of those profits should be invested directly in vulnerable people in our country, as it has always been done, and now more than ever," Céspedes stated.
How many times, throughout the history of Cuba, has the same rhetoric not been heard among the staunch defenders of tyranny?
Céspedes' statement comes four days after the regime approved a set of 176 economic transformation measures, presented by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz before the National Assembly on June 19, which for the first time includes the authorization of corporate private banking, private currency exchange, and foreign direct investment in small and medium enterprises.
In his video, Céspedes argues that if private capital takes over important sectors of the economy, the state will be able to concentrate its resources on increasing the salaries of teachers, doctors, and civil servants.
"The State, if there are companies, foreign capital, Cuban capital that can take on important sectors of the economy but can rely on private initiatives, will be able to focus on increasing salaries for teachers, which is fundamental. Increasing salaries for doctors and raising wages for those who work for the government," he argued.
The Cuban compares the model she advocates with that of China and Vietnam, summarizing it in the phrase “market yes, capitalism no,” and rejects the idea that investments could “take away the country’s resources,” something that, according to her, “must be guaranteed by the Socialist State, which is why a revolution was made in Cuba.”
However, his optimism clashes with the data that describes the reality of the island: inflation reached 31.9% in the first quarter of 2026, the Cuban peso was devalued to 685 pesos per dollar in June, and CEPAL projects a GDP decline of 6.5% for this year, which would make Cuba the worst-performing economy in Latin America for the second consecutive year.
The regime itself acknowledged this Tuesday, through one of its leaders, that the reforms will widen social inequalities on the island, while a Cuban deputy defended the measures with the phrase: "We cannot distribute poverty; we must produce wealth."
The contradiction embodied by Céspedes has not gone unnoticed: the Cuban organizes the purchase of rice, beans, oil, and hygiene products for the elderly in Cuba from Tenerife, implicitly acknowledging that the state she defends is unable to provide even the most basic needs for its citizens.
According to the Food Monitor Program, nearly one in three Cuban households reported in May 2026 that one of their members went to bed hungry in the previous 30 days, and 79.75% of respondents attribute the shortages to poor state administration, rather than the U.S. embargo.
In April, Céspedes had already called to sign the regime's official campaign "My Signature for the Homeland", organized by the Communist Party to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the victory at the Bay of Pigs, and he went viral for shouting "Long live Cuba, long live my president Díaz-Canel" while insulting the Cuban exile community from Spanish soil.
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