A Cuban resident in the United States shared on TikTok a detailed account of her return to Cuba, an experience marked by luggage being held in Florida, the theft of clothing and medication from her son's bags, and the blackouts she encountered in her neighborhood of Guanabacoa.
The user known as Odette_Angel (@angel_odette86) posted a video on Monday lasting over six minutes in response to a follower who asked her how her visit to the island had gone. What she described was a series of setbacks from the very beginning.
He traveled on Tuesday, June 16 from the United States with layovers in Charlotte, Atlanta, and Miami, on a flight with Delta Airlines that he described as "practically empty." Upon arriving in Cuba, he discovered that the airline had left luggage belonging to several passengers in Florida, including that of his middle son, Eros.
Delta was supposed to call her the next day to let her know, but they never did. It was her husband, from the United States, who got tired of waiting, called the airline, and located the luggage. He informed her that it had already arrived at the Cuban airport and that she could go pick it up that afternoon.
When she arrived at the airport between five and six in the evening, the employee who assisted her did so, in her words, "very poorly." The finding was even worse: the suitcase was completely open. The explanation she received was that the luggage had been checked in Miami because, according to the employee, "people have a great deal of need."
To retrieve the luggage, they required the child's physical passport; they did not accept the digital photo of the document. This forced her to make a round trip between the airport and Guanabacoa to fetch it, and she did not return until ten at night. During that shift, another employee assisted her, who, according to her account, was "very attentive." In the end, they charged her 50 pesos for the delayed luggage.
“They charged me fifty pesos for the luggage because, my love, what else are you going to charge me for? You took over thirty pounds from my luggage,” she said in the video.
Upon carefully checking the bags once at home, she confirmed her worst fears: all of the child's clothing had disappeared, along with repellents and medications. "They took all the clothes, they took the repellents, and they made off with the medications and other items," she recounted.
The theft of luggage at Cuban airports is a recurring and well-documented issue. In May 2026, Joel Pita reported that customs officials at José Martí airport stole clothing, perfumes, and a watch from him; in April, Angélica Peña reported the theft of perfumes, cigars, and documents at Holguín airport. The most common method involves opening the zippers with a pen, leaving no visible trace, a technique that has been documented since 2019.
Odette_Angel highlighted that, despite everything, she was glad the thieves had not touched the luggage of donations she was bringing for her community. "I'm really happy it wasn't the luggage I took for donation," she stated.
Regarding the situation in his neighborhood, the welcome was bittersweet: there was electricity when he arrived, but the transformer blew out four days later. "Things are complicated," he acknowledged, without providing further details. Guanabacoa has been the scene of protests and pot-banging events in June 2026 due to prolonged power outages and water shortages, amid the most severe electrical crisis that Cuba is experiencing, with cuts of up to 20-24 hours daily.
"That was my first welcome, not counting the other things that happened," the author concluded, leaving the door open for new stories about her time on the island.
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