Cuban actress Judith González posted a video on Instagram that shocked her followers, recorded just after hanging up a call with her older sister, 75, who lives in Marianao, Havana.
In the reel the comedian on the verge of tears describes the immense contrast between her life, her daily worries, and those of her sister in the harsh reality she faces on the island filled with needs.
Judith started the call by telling her sister that she was "half-hearted" due to a bruise on her foot, that she had the flu, her ears were stuffed, her son was sick, and she had a heavy workload. It was when she asked how her sister was doing that the reality check hit.
"After 40 hours without power, we finally have electricity, although now we don't have water, but oh well," her sister responded from the Havana municipality hit by the crisis of blackouts and water shortages that has plagued Cuba for months.
The situation in that home was even more difficult than those words suggested. Judith's 78-year-old brother-in-law had to carry bucket after bucket to fill a cistern because the water was not coming through the pipes. The water goes out, then the gas also runs out, and the family cooks with a charcoal stove, even though the sister is asthmatic and has to do it "with great care."
It was that detail—the image of her older sister cooking with charcoal to avoid worsening her asthma, while she complained about a sore foot—that broke the actress.
"I felt embarrassed to tell my sister that I have pain in one foot, that my ears are stuffed, that I have a lot going on today," Judith confessed in the video, her voice trembling.
The most heart-wrenching moment came at the end of the call: it was the sister, from the hardship of Marianao, who ended up comforting and advising Judith. “Go to the doctor, apply menthol, use iodine, remember that mom did everything with iodine, take vitamin C, take care of the child,” she told her before saying goodbye.
That reversal of roles — where the one who is suffering most encourages the one living in better conditions — was what triggered the actress's emotion and resonated immediately with her audience. The video garnered over 24,000 reactions and received more than 1,500 comments, with hundreds of Cubans in the diaspora sharing similar situations with their own families.
"That call is the same for thousands of Cuban families"; "All Cubans carry the guilt without being guilty, how our Cuba hurts"; "Cuba hurts... I saw you and I confess that I cried, I cried for you and for all the people who are in your sister's situation, what is happening here in Cuba today is beyond words"; "The lump in the throat is something we cannot overcome here. It hurts, it hurts a lot"; "It is for things like this that I am learning not to complain but to be thankful for all the good. There is always someone who is going through worse," commented some of their followers.
Judith's testimony is set against the severe crisis that the island is experiencing. Cuba has suffered total collapses of the national electrical system just days apart, and power outages exceed 20 hours daily in many areas, with a constant lack of water. In Havana, each power cut also disrupts the water supply, as over half a million residents have been facing water issues since July.
It is not the first time that Judith González has openly broken down over the situation in Cuba. In October 2024, during a widespread blackout, she strongly criticized the dictatorship for the crisis in which the island and its people are immersed. However, her video this week touches on a different and deeper wound: the silent guilt of those living abroad while their loved ones endure in the island with what little they have.
Filed under: