On the day of the festival of the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, the Cuban announcer, actress, and presenter Laritza Camacho posted 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 prevails on the island: "Here we can't even shout the prayer."
The poem, written in the first person plural, transforms prayer into an act of symbolic resistance on the most sacred date of the Cuban religious calendar.
«Virgin, today as yesterday, there is a storm. Nothing can be seen in the dark human sea we inhabit. Charity sustains us hand in hand, like a donation from a country asleep in the midst of chaos. If you listen closely Make the miracle. Here we cannot even shout the prayer.»
The image of the stormy sea is not coincidental: it directly refers to the legend of the "three Juanes" who found the image of the Virgin floating in the bay of Nipe around 1612-1613, and it connects to the present-day Cuba, where that "dark human sea" serves as a metaphor for a society engulfed in blackouts, scarcity, and fear.
Camacho is one of the public voices that has most frequently criticized the regime from his social media throughout 2026.
On July 11, he declared: "I am against the Cuban government because the Cuban government is against Cuba."
Weeks later, on August 5th, she sent a direct message to the officials: "Leave and go away, we don't need you."
His prayer this Tuesday adds a spiritual dimension to that critical voice, resonating with other religious expressions that have emerged 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 Cuban youth not to stop dreaming and to believe that "freedom and opportunities are possible" in Cuba, rather than feeling compelled to emigrate.
The celebrations on September 8, 2026 at the El Cobre sanctuary 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 Vedado parish organized a procession with the image on a platform along with yellow and white flowers.
This year, the celebration carries additional significance: it marks 110 years since the declaration of the Virgin of Charity of Copper as the patroness of Cuba, recognized by Pope Benedict XV on May 10, 1916, following a request from veterans of the Liberation Army.
In that context of collective devotion and accumulated crisis, Camacho's prayer concludes with a poignant image: a people unable to even raise their voices to pray aloud, yet still asking their patroness to "perform the miracle."
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