A Cuban residing abroad, but who frequently returns to the island, recorded a reflection from a neighborhood in Sancti Spíritus on a question that has divided those living inside and outside of Cuba for years: why do the calls from the exile community to take to the streets against the regime not resonate with a larger response among a population suffering from an increasingly deepening crisis?
Yusmani Companioni Vila published the video on Facebook under the title "From the neighborhood where I grew up in our beautiful Cuba." Surrounded by motorbike taxis, small businesses, vendors, and people waiting for transportation, he provided his own response: for a significant portion of Cubans, he asserted, the immediate priority is not political confrontation, but rather acquiring what is necessary to make it through the day.
"Why do the people around me, those in my environment, not hear that cry for freedom that you want to give from over there: 'The dictatorship, you have to take it down now, go out into the streets'?" he asked.
His response was straightforward: "These people are in survival mode. They need to solve the problem, and they need to solve it now."
Companioni Vila recorded at the corner of Céspedes, Sixth Street, Ranfla, and Fifth Street, in the same neighborhood in Sancti Spíritus where he grew up. He claims to have been “away for a long time” from Cuba, although he assures that he returns to the island two, three, and even four times a month.
The scene used to support his argument is a common one: motorbikes used for transportation, small businesses, and people seeking income amid an economy where meeting basic needs has become a daily task.
"Here are heads of households, here are people who are now going home and have to focus on looking for the ticket, on finding the supplies," he stated.
For Companioni Vila, this urgency to survive helps explain the gap between certain political calls made from abroad and the priorities of those who face daily scarcity within Cuba.
He also harshly criticized those outside the island who constantly urge Cubans to protest without considering, in his view, the circumstances in which they live.
"What happens is that you keep talking nonsense, saying to go out and not come back, since Cuba is not free anymore. What you need to do is get out; this can't take any more," he expressed.
He summarized his argument with a phrase: "That's why your cry for freedom doesn't reach. Because the issue is that the solution is immediate."
Reflection, however, does not mean that protests have disappeared in Cuba. On the contrary, 2026 has been marked by numerous expressions of social discontent, many of them directly related to blackouts, food shortages, and the deterioration of living conditions.
According to data from the Cuban Observatory of Conflicts, 107 street protests were recorded in June, a record number, with 82 concentrated in Havana and another 18 in Santiago de Cuba.
One of the most significant occurred in March, when residents of Morón, in Ciego de Ávila, staged pot-banging protests and shouted "Freedom!" during a demonstration that ended with damage to the local headquarters of the Communist Party and at least five arrests.
The manifestations, however, have been largely local and have not resulted in a sustained national mobilization.
The message divides opinions
Companioni Vila's words also sparked mixed reactions among those who commented on his post. Some supported his argument that the immediate needs of Cubans must take precedence over calls made from afar.
"Don't worry about the four [...] who are criticizing you, good for you, the solution is now, so that ordinary Cubans, children, and the sick stop dying," wrote a user, who also questioned those who "push from a distance" others to protest.
Other internet users, however, interpreted his speech in a completely different way and accused him of justifying the Cuban reality. "You defend the system and say nothing because it doesn't suit you for your business to end," stated one commenter, who claimed that "what is being experienced today is not life" and criticized him for trying to "defend the indefensible."
There were also those who directly questioned his frequent trips to the island. "Why not just stay in your neighborhood... and live in survival mode... and stop taking your dollars to that dictatorship," wrote another user.
In contrast, other comments highlighted the assistance that Companioni Vila claims to provide to vulnerable individuals. A Cuban resident in Europe recalled a video in which he delivered a chair and money to a neighbor with a disability, asserting that this gesture demonstrated "the great man that you are." There are even people who take the opportunity in his posts to directly ask for help: a woman from Cumanayagua wrote to him saying that her husband is disabled and requested that he visit her town.
This exchange broadens the debate raised by the video: while some believe that addressing the material urgent needs of those living in Cuba is a concrete response to the crisis, others question whether such aid might end up normalizing a situation they consider fundamentally political in its roots.
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