The Cuban activist Mireya Jiménez, an activist residing in Trinidad, Sancti Spíritus, published a video on Facebook in which she strongly criticizes Aleida Guevara March, daughter of the guerrilla fighter Ernesto "Che" Guevara, for her statements against self-employment and small and medium enterprises.
In the two-minute clip, Jiménez defends the self-employed as the true lifeline of the Cuban people and makes a direct accusation against Guevara: "You are a cretin, you are as much of a killer as your father, because you, along with your leadership, your Castros, your PCC, and your Canel, are calling for the self-employed to not exist."
The central argument of the activist is strong: without private businesses, the population would not have access to basic food.
"We, the ordinary Cubans, survive thanks to the self-employed workers; we survive on the little bit of food they sell us, for those who can afford it," she states in the video, before asking where in Cuba one can buy food at affordable prices for the everyday people.
The video emerges following the resurgence of some statements made by Aleida Guevara, in which she described self-employment as "a cancer within our society". These comments were originally made in an interview with the government-friendly outlet Cubadebate in 2020 and reiterated in 2022 during an interview with the channel BreakThrough News, which have now gone viral.
In both cases, the pediatrician argued that self-employment is ideologically unacceptable because "people start to think only about their own pockets."
This is not the first time that Che's daughter has taken aim at the private sector.
In May 2024, she called on the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution to intensify surveillance over the private small and medium enterprises due to "the risks they pose to security."
However, in August 2025, she was seen shopping at a dollar market in Havana, showcasing the double standards of the Castro elite who preach austerity from their positions of privilege.
Mireya Jiménez is not the only voice that reacted. The baritone Ulises Aquino Guerra also publicly responded to Guevara pointing out the contradiction between her speech and the privileges of the nomenclature: "And what about those who live off the efforts of others, those who hold benefits and privileges without having lifted a finger, what illness do they suffer from?".
In June, the Cuban activist published a video on Instagram to clarify any doubts about the extent of her constant criticisms of the government: her demands are not requests for water, food, or medicine, but an explicit political call for freedom and an end to communism in Cuba.
"We are not making videos asking for water, food, or medicine; we are asking for freedom for Cuba, we are asking for freedom," Jiménez stated.
Filed under: