A sketch of less than a minute published on Facebook by the comedian Loky Kubah has struck a chord with thousands of Cubans by humorously portraying the dilemma faced by young people on the island: emigrate or die at the hands of street violence.
In the viral video by Loky Kubah, a young man returns to his neighborhood after two years of military service and goes out to look for his old friends.
The response he receives at each door is the same: they left. Daniel has been away from Cuba for almost a year. Carlos left for Brazil with his father last month. Damián went to Spain.
When he asks about Ernesto, the only one who didn't emigrate, the response freezes him: "No, they killed Ernesto to steal the motorbike. Last week."
The protagonist's reaction —"Mother turkey"— and the phrase that concludes the sketch encapsulate a reality that millions of Cubans recognize as their own: "This is the future of youth in Cuba. Either we leave, or they kill us."
The video is not just fiction. The destinations it mentions —the United States, Brazil, Spain— are exactly the main recipients of the Cuban exodus. According to data from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), Cuba lost 245,264 inhabitants due to net migration in 2025, leaving the total population at 9,434,593 people.
The most alarming aspect is who is leaving. Researchers from the Center for Demographic Studies (CEDEM) reported that 50% of Cuban emigrants are under 35 years old, a group that constitutes just 38.4% of the total population, according to an analysis published in July of this year on the demographic bomb that is emptying Cuba of young people. Independent estimates place the total number of people who have left the island since 2021 at over one million.
The other side of the sketch —violence— is not a metaphor either. The Cuban Observatory of Citizen Audit (OCAC) documented 2,833 verified crimes throughout 2025, an increase of 115% compared to 2024 and 337% compared to 2023.
Thefts were the predominant crime, with 1,536 cases reported, a 479% increase from 2023. In the first half of that year, there were also 63 murders recorded, according to data collected in the alarming increase in crimes in Cuba during 2025.
The theft of scooters —the motive for the crime in the video— is a real and frequent offense on an island where the scarcity of fuel makes electric bikes and gasoline highly valuable commodities. Documented cases of young people being killed for their cellphones, jewelry, or scooters have occurred in Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and other provinces between 2025 and 2026.
Loky Kubah is not a newcomer to this kind of denunciation. In August of this year, another one of his videos—about the rising price of oil— surpassed 39,000 reactions on Facebook. In June, a sketch about the impossible arithmetic between salaries of 2,500 pesos and the cost of food generated nearly a thousand comments.
Black humor serves as a social thermometer in Cuba. And this video indicates a high fever: a survey from September 2025 revealed that 93% of respondents said they would leave Cuba "right away" if they could, according to independent Cuban media.
The comedian Ulises Toirac noted this year that Cuban emigration reflects that people "do not see a future in the country," describing it as a phenomenon of perception, not just economic or political. The sketch by Loky Kubah reaches the same conclusion in thirty seconds, with a harshness that no statistical report can match.
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