The Cuban baritone and activist Ulises Aquino Guerra responded harshly on Facebook to Aleida Guevara March, daughter of the guerrilla fighter Ernesto "Che" Guevara, after her statements went viral again in which she described self-employment as "a small cancer within society".
Aquino, known for his artistic career and his public critiques of the regime from within Cuba, did not merely counter the argument: he directly pointed out the privileged position from which Guevara March speaks.
"Obviously, the society she speaks of does not suit her; for her, those who struggle every day to make a living, those who strive not to be a burden on the rest of society, are a 'cancer,'" she wrote.
And he soon pointed out the underlying contradiction: "What about those who live off the efforts of others, those who enjoy perks and privileges without having lifted a finger, what affliction do they suffer from?"
The words that outraged Aquino come from two interviews with Guevara March: one published by the official outlet Cubadebate in October 2020 and another granted in 2022 to the channel BreakThrough News.
In both cases, the pediatrician maintained that self-employment is ideologically unacceptable because "people start thinking only about their own pockets."
"Man thinks according to how he lives. If you start to live solely to increase the economic possibilities for your family, yours, you can forget that you live in a different society. That is a tremendous risk," he stated in 2022, before asking, "How do you create social awareness in a person who is only working for themselves?"
Although he acknowledged that self-employment was a way out during the crisis—"sometimes one has to make decisions that, while not always correct, are the ones we have available"—he framed it as a tactical concession, not as a right.
Aleida Guevara, who describes herself as "very radical about these things," had already requested in May 2024 that the CDR intensify surveillance over the mipymes due to "the risks they pose to security."
The regime's spokesperson does not shy away from the luxuries typical of her social class: in August of last year, she was caught shopping in a dollar market in Havana, highlighting the double standard that accompanies the elite connected to power, which navigates between speeches of sacrifice and consumption practices forbidden to the people.
Aquino, who this week criticized the regime for its economic management, concluded his post with a question that encapsulates the frustration of those working to survive while the Castro elite preaches austerity from their privileges: "They say that this is a tremendous risk... and they speak of social conscience, obviously because they are convinced of their class consciousness."
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