The Argentine journalist Carolina Amoroso stated that the speech by the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel regarding the willingness of the Cuban people to defend the revolution "does not align at all" with the reality she herself documented within the country, where even people who identify as revolutionaries told her they want free elections.
His statements were made during the program "Virtual Encounter with Gloria Ordaz" on Telemundo 51, days after Díaz-Canel told the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo that "millions of Cubans" would give their lives for the revolution and that "the people would not allow" a return to capitalism.
Amoroso, correspondent for TN and Canal 13, entered Cuba on a tourist visa at the end of March to secretly film the documentary "Cuba: The Island That Is Dimming."
During those days, he witnessed a society pushed to its limits. "I don't remember anyone who had more than one meal a day," he told Gloria Ordaz, adding that for many Cubans it no longer even makes sense to go to work "because of the high cost of getting there."
When asked if Díaz-Canel's recent statements align with what she saw and heard in Cuba, her response was blunt: "They don't match at all."
What stood out the most to Amoroso was that the perception of the gap between official rhetoric and reality is not limited to those who openly oppose the government. "The most Castroist person, the revolutionary I interviewed, told me that they wanted elections, that they wanted Cubans to be able to choose their representatives. Imagine the urgency for change that exists," he stated.
The journalist acknowledged, however, that this urgency is unlikely to translate into collective mobilization. "It's not that there isn't an urgency and a need for profound change in Cuba, but rather that people are very focused on merely surviving," she explained.
His documentary described Havana as a postcard from a war-torn place, due to the large number of buildings reduced to rubble in the neighborhoods he explored.
This material collapse contrasts with the narrative of resilience that Díaz-Canel insists on maintaining and that he reiterated in the recent interview with Folha de São Paulo. The leader denied that Cuba is on the brink of collapse, although he acknowledged a "totally complex" situation.
For Amoroso, this view is a demonstration that the regime is "at odds with reality and the truth," and its leaders do not suffer the same hardships as ordinary citizens.
During the conversation with Ordaz, the journalist extended her analysis to Venezuela and warned about the risk that political change processes may be delayed to the benefit of those seeking to perpetuate themselves.
"These regimes are specialists in buying time," he emphasized, calling for the acceleration of any electoral timeline in that country. "The art of buying time, of staging pantomimes of economic openness, they do very well. We must demand changes now," he asserted.
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