On the day of the festival of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, the Cuban broadcaster, actress, and presenter Laritza Camacho published a poetic prayer on her Facebook addressed to the patroness of Cuba, with a final verse that summarizes the atmosphere of repression and self-censorship that the island is experiencing: "Here we cannot even shout the prayer."
The poem, written in the first person plural, transforms the prayer into an act of symbolic resistance on the holiest date of the Cuban religious calendar.
«Virgin, today like yesterday, there is a storm. Nothing can be seen in the dark human sea we inhabit. Charity holds us hand in hand, like alms from a country asleep amid chaos. If you listen closely Make the miracle. Here we cannot even shout the prayer.»
The image of the stormy sea is not incidental: it directly refers to the legend of the "three Juanes" who found the image of the Virgin floating in Nipe Bay around 1612-1613, and it brings it into the present Cuban context, where that "dark human sea" serves as a metaphor for a society overwhelmed by blackouts, scarcity, and fear.
Camacho is one of the public voices that has most frequently criticized the regime from his social media throughout 2026.
At the beginning of last July, he declared: "I am against the Cuban government because the Cuban government is against Cuba."
Weeks later, she sent a direct message to the officials: "Get out and go, we don't need you."
His prayer this Tuesday adds a spiritual dimension to that critical voice, resonating with other religious expressions that have arisen around the celebration.
The priest Alberto Reyes had asked the Virgin days earlier to help preserve "the courage to speak the truth" **"in the midst of so much repression.**
This Tuesday, Reyes urged young Cubans not to stop dreaming and to believe that "freedom and opportunities are possible" in Cuba, instead of feeling compelled to emigrate.
The celebrations on September 8, 2026 at the sanctuary of El Cobre, in Santiago de Cuba, included masses, a procession at five in the afternoon, and a Marian music concert under the theme "Charity Unites Us."
In Havana, the parish of Vedado organized a procession with the image on a platform and yellow and white flowers.
This year, the celebration carries additional significance: it marks the 110th anniversary of the declaration of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre as the patron saint of Cuba, recognized by Pope Benedict XV on May 10, 1916, at the request of veterans of the Liberation Army.
In that context of collective devotion and accumulated crisis, Camacho's prayer concludes with the harshest image: a people who cannot even raise their voices to pray aloud, yet still ask their patroness to "perform the miracle."
Related videos:
Filed under: