A nearly two-minute sketch posted on TikTok by Cuban creator Yoandry Quintero imagines what would have happened if the Titanic had sunk with Cubans on board, and the result is a devastating—and hilarious—portrait of the most recognizable vices of Cuban society: favoritism, bureaucracy, blackouts, long lines, and the unwavering desire not to return to the island.
The video published on July 16 starts with the announcement of the collision with the iceberg. Before anyone can react, a passenger already has the explanation ready: it's the embargo's fault. The response from the person in charge is immediate: "Security, drown him."
Since that first blow, the sketch does not stop. The protagonist—a woman who self-proclaims herself the boss of the lifeboat without anyone choosing her—justifies it with an impeccably Cuban logic: "I was the aunt who distributed the little pieces of cake at the birthday party."
From then on, the sinking of the Titanic becomes a chain of situations that any Cuban will instantly recognize.
Felita's nephew slips in easily thanks to family connections. A woman is shouted at and expelled because "she thinks she's in a chicken line" and had taken a number for five people while the ship is sinking.
A 98-year-old woman is turned away with the argument that only those older than that age can enter "if accompanied by their parents." A tall child cannot go up because they require an ID card to prove he is a minor —the card, of course, "was lost on the boat"— and the person in charge tells them to go find it and return when they have it.
The group of Cubans on board is identified in the sketch by an unmistakable sign: they are complaining about the blackout on the ship. "Where in Cuba are they from, complaining about a blackout when there's never any electricity in Cuba?" the attendant asks.
The final push comes when everyone is already in the boat. The makeshift leader gives her last instruction: “I need you to take your documents, throw them into the water, and make it look like you drowned.” And to clarify any doubts about the destination, she wraps up with a phrase that summarizes decades of Cuban exodus: “No, my love, I’m sorry, we’re not going to Cuba. I’m the one steering the boat, and we’re not going back, not even to gain momentum.”
Quintero's humor is rooted in a well-established tradition of Cuban humor on social media, where satire on blackouts, long lines, shortages, and bureaucracy serves as a social chronicle of the crisis. Creators like Ulises Toirac, who has portrayed the absurdity of the electrical system, and Chequera, with his sketches about electrical blocks, have turned everyday collapse into high-impact comedic material.
The context is not insignificant: power outages of up to 20 hours a day are projected for August in Cuba, which has intensified the phenomenon of viral humor as a release valve in the face of a crisis that shows no signs of easing.
The video by Quintero had accumulated 2,734 likes and 490 shares at the time of its extraction, numbers that reflect the immediate resonance of a sketch that, using the Titanic as an excuse, manages to portray in under two minutes what many Cubans experience every day.
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