A young Cuban turned a blackout into a scene full of symbolism at the University of Oriente in Santiago de Cuba: she went out to sing «Quimbara», one of the most emblematic songs of Celia Cruz, while a large image of Fidel Castro loomed behind her.
The social communicator Yosmany Mayeta Labrada shared this Friday the video of the presentation on Facebook and identified the young woman as Annia María.
As she explained, the performance was part of a festival, and in the absence of electricity, she chose to continue at the entrance of the institution, relying almost entirely on her voice.
The lack of electricity did not extinguish the atmosphere. In the images, several of those present can be seen surrounding the young woman, dancing, smiling, and singing along to the “Quimbara”, a song composed by the Puerto Rican Junior Cepeda and popularized by Celia Cruz.
"Celia Cruz performed in front of Fidel Castro, and that says a lot," summarized Mayeta, who saw in the scene something more than a musical performance: the voice that was associated for decades with one of the Cuban artists most at odds with the Castro regime resonating right before the image of the man whose government had shut the doors of Cuba to her.
The scene is particularly striking because of the story that separated Celia Cruz from Fidel Castro's regime.
The singer left Cuba in 1960 with the Sonora Matancera and the Castro government ended up banning her from returning to the island, even when her mother passed away.
Celia lived the rest of her life in exile and maintained an openly critical stance toward the Cuban system.
The breakup was profound. A friend of the artist revealed years later that Fidel Castro had reportedly informed her that she could return to Cuba, but with the condition of staying permanently, something the singer did not accept.
His music also remained outside of state radio and television for decades.
Even in 2020, a program on Cuban television presented Celia as a figure supposedly manipulated by the American "far-right", a demonstration that even many years after her death, her political stance continued to unsettle the official apparatus.
The contrast extended to the centenary of the singer herself: in October 2025, a tribute organized in Havana by Teatro El Público and the Fábrica de Arte Cubano was suspended by official decision.
The location of the performance adds another layer to the contrast. The University of the East has dedicated numerous activities to the centenary of Fidel Castro.
The institution has launched a program to bring his thoughts to the "struggle of today" and make it "useful" in the education of students.
The very own promotion number 73 of the institution was named this year Graduation "Centenary of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz".
At the same time, the University of Oriente has a history of conflicts due to political and ideological reasons. In 2021, Electrical Engineering student Adrián Arza reported having been expelled for his religious and political beliefs.
The case of the lawyer René Fidel González García, a former tenured professor at that university, is also documented. He was removed from teaching after publishing critical texts. The institution itself publicly defended that decision.
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