The comedian Ulises Toirac made a devastating diagnosis about the future of Cuba during his appearance on the program Familia Cubana TV, hosted by Alejandro Cuervo and recorded in Havana.
"Cuba is in a maze that has no solution, at least not within my lifetime. I am already 62 years old... and I don't see a solution," he stated.
The statements made by the creator of Chivichana went viral in a Facebook clip that garnered over 286,000 views in just a few hours, reflecting the impact of his words among Cubans both on and off the Island.
Toirac argued that the symbolic weight of the revolution – the triumph of 1959, the Bay of Pigs, the Missile Crisis – generated a paradigm so powerful that it ultimately became a trap. "We have interpreted it in such a way that it has enclosed itself and has changed from one thing to become another," he stated.
One of his most direct points highlighted the current regime's inability to sustain the model that Fidel Castro upheld through personal charisma.
"It has been attempted to continue in the post-Fidel Castro era as if Fidel Castro still existed," he said, adding that the historical leader could secure international resources due to his influence: "He would go to the Emirates and say, 'I need 76 billion,' and the sultan would reply, 'Here, take it.'"
That ability, the actor emphasized, does not exist in the current leaders.
The comedian was also emphatic in his assessment of the so-called "energy revolution" promoted by Fidel, the consequences of which are felt today with blackouts lasting more than 24 consecutive hours in Cuba.
"The energy revolution solved a problem that day, but it set ablaze the development of the national electro-energy system for all future times," he stated.
To those who place their hopes in a political change, he posed an uncomfortable question: "People say: 'freedom, freedom, democracy.' Yes, yes, yes, all that sounds nice, but what are you going to do with it? What is your attitude towards the future of Cuba?"
And it went further: "Three Cubans are four political parties, and all four hate each other. I don’t see a solution."
His conclusion was that Cuban society "is not prepared" nor does it have "the maturity" to take on the responsibility of a new political system.
For the first time, Ulises openly admitted that he might leave Cuba if he found favorable conditions. "Right now, I can't say for sure; if I find favorable conditions to develop my work, to build a life, even outside my artistic sphere, I don't know, probably yes," he remarked.
He described the situation on the Island as an "agony": two hours of electricity a day, lack of medicine, food shortages, and absence of medical professionals. "You’re not living, you’re not even surviving because you can’t, you’re overwhelmed all the time, you’re in agony," he emphasized.
The interview also revealed the systematic censorship he faces. The comedian explained that he cannot perform in private bars or cultural institutions because authorities pressure organizers to exclude him, with a message he summarized as: "Either you cut him out or you cut him out."
Given that reality, he survives by writing and producing audiovisual content for social media.
In March, he attributed the Cuban electrical collapse to 30 years of poor investment policies, rejecting the notion that the embargo is the main cause, and in April he responded to Díaz-Canel indicating that more than 1.25 million Cubans emigrated between 2021 and 2024 because "people do not want to live in Cuba."
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