The Cuban influencer Yeison López (@hermandadtmph) revealed this Tuesday that the bicycle promised to the boy Dainer had already been purchased before he launched the public challenge that mobilized thousands of followers on social media.
López published the tough story of Dainer, a 12-year-old boy from Bahía Honda, Artemisa, who works trimming palm trees and walks for miles barefoot to get to school.
Additionally, he had promised to buy him a bicycle if the video reached 100,000 likes. However, in a comment on his own post, the content creator admitted that the decision had already been made before filming.
"I'll be honest, the bicycle was purchased before making this video, but with so much garbage content that appears on our social media, I want to give you the chance to be a part of this with your likes and interactions, so that you feel in some way that you were the ones who gifted the bike, because that is truly the case; without God and your support, none of this would be possible," he wrote.
The confession, far from generating rejection, amplified the emotional impact of the campaign and garnered thousands of additional reactions.
Dainer became well-known among López's followers in mid-July when the influencer spotted him during a morning run in the rural settlement of Montaña, and the boy followed him barefoot throughout the entire route.
When asked why he wasn't going to school, Dainer responded with a phrase that moved thousands: "I can ride a bike, which I don’t have. I wish I had one".
The minor was not a stranger to the creator's community. On July 18, a reel about palm tree pruners featuring Dainer and Raidel, a 25-year-old with a decade of experience in that trade, had garnered over 450,000 views and more than 140,000 likes.
In that video, recorded at five in the morning, both were seen climbing royal palms over twenty meters high using only homemade ropes to cut clusters of palm hearts, a fruit primarily intended to feed pigs.
Dainer's grandmother, who takes care of him and his little sister, proudly described the boy: "Daini, my grandson, is very good. He works with people and all that. What I always tell him is that he has to fight."
López, who emigrated from Cuba at the age of 15 and currently lives in Asia, returned to the island to document daily life in rural areas through his Instagram account, which has over 600,000 followers.
She clarified that her intention was not to romanticize the situation: "With this post, I do not intend to romanticize this lifestyle in children; I only share the reality that many live, and I believe we should show respect instead of hastily making criticisms without deep understanding."
The story of Dainer reflects a reality documented in Cuba. The Cuban Conflict Observatory recorded 71 reports of child labor and begging in 2025, while the government itself acknowledged that nearly 200,000 minors are in vulnerable situations.
Despite this, the Union of Young Communists denied in June that there was child labor in Cuba, a statement that sparked widespread backlash on social media.
The economic context exacerbates the situation: the official minimum wage was set at 3,210 pesos —about 4.65 dollars— as of July 1, 2026, while economists estimate that a person needs around 96,000 pesos per month to cover their basic needs.
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