A bicycle taxi driver from Cárdenas, Matanzas, returned a forgotten suitcase left in his vehicle with all of its contents completely intact, in a story that moved the local community after going viral on social media.
Everything began on Friday, August 14, when a man named Renier got into an electric bicitaxi, featuring a canvas roof and two seats, and placed his suitcase—black, hard-shell, with wheels and practically new—under the seat.
After getting off and paying for the trip in the Ayón and Velázquez area, he walked towards the stop and that’s when he realized he had forgotten his luggage. He ran out and shouted at the driver, but the bicitaxi had already taken off.
Inside the suitcase were work equipment and materials, money related to their job, clothing, toiletries, and other personal belongings, all essential for their daily livelihood.
On Saturday, the communicator Christian Arboláez published an urgent call on Facebook to locate the driver and recover the luggage.
Two days later, he announced the outcome everyone was waiting for: "The suitcase was returned and everything inside was completely intact."
The bicitaxi driver turned out to be Edey Antúnez. His wife reached out to Arboláez to explain that connectivity issues and a dead battery had prevented them from contacting Renier earlier, but that from the very beginning they had wanted to reassure him. "She assured that he could be at ease, that the suitcase was intact, and that they are Christians and God-fearing," the post details.
Arboláez took advantage of the resolution of the case to commend the gesture: "I want to publicly thank you for your honesty, because while we often discuss negative things, it is also fair to acknowledge those who do what is right."
Electric bicitaxis have become one of the primary means of mobility in the face of the collapse of public transport in Cuba.
In Cárdenas, around 10 electric tricycles have been operating as public service since 2024, part of a provincial program that includes another 15 in the city of Matanzas. In June of this year, private electric tricycles in the province doubled their fares due to high demand, reflecting a relentless mobility crisis.
The story of Edey Antúnez is not the only one of its kind. Last July, a bicitaxista in Havana went viral for charging elderly people only what they could afford, in yet another example of solidarity within the sector.
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