Grandmaster Lázaro Bruzón published a message on Facebook rejecting the advice of those urging him to remain silent about Cuba, reaffirming his commitment to public denunciation against the dictatorship.
"I often receive messages and advice recommending that I remain silent. That I shouldn't get involved, that I won't solve anything, that it's pointless. If I had let myself be swayed by those voices, I would have stopped speaking a long time ago. But today, while I am further away from many people, I feel much better," wrote the chess player from Holguín, who has been living in Missouri since July 2018 and has been competing under the American flag since 2020.
The core of the text is an ethical defense of denunciation above any ideological affinity. Bruzón argues that imprisoning young people for posting a video on social media, for highlighting the conditions in which they live, or for singing songs that reflect social reality does not equate to defending an ideology: "you are justifying cruelty. And those who justify cruelty, who applaud the punishment of the innocent to protect a dogma, are simply MISERABLE" (sic).
The chess player also pointed to a collective wound: "I would never applaud something unjust or poorly done just to protect my ideological beliefs. And there lies much of our problem as a nation: that habit of dehumanizing, relativizing so much crime and so much mistreatment."
The publication comes days after Bruzón described Cuba as a "dictatorship without alternation" with "the worst in the economy" and "the worst in social order," and weeks after he reported that his mother was harassed in a store in Las Tunas by individuals blaming her for her son's political opinions.
The chess player's allegations are supported by documentary evidence. According to Prisoners Defenders, Cuba ended August 2026 with 1,339 political prisoners —a record figure—. In Holguín, Bruzón's home province, the founders of the audiovisual project El4tico were detained on February 6, 2026; the Prosecutor's Office accuses them of "propaganda against the constitutional order" and "instigation to commit a crime," and, as has come to light, it would be seeking prison sentences of eight and ten years.
In the musical realm, several artists critical of the Cuban government remain imprisoned or have been detained. The rapper Maykel Castillo Pérez, “Maykel Osorbo” is serving a nine-year prison sentence imposed in June 2022 and Fernando Almenares Rivera, “Nando OBDC”, received a five-year sentence for “propaganda against the constitutional order.”
Throughout 2026, Bruzón—who, before emigrating, was a member of the Union of Young Communists and a deputy in the People's Power Assembly in Las Tunas—has maintained a sustained escalation of critical pronouncements. In February, he accused the regime of having "sunk" the country since 1959; in April, he characterized its leaders as people "sick with power"; and in July, upon reaching eight years in the United States, he described that country as "the model for many of the things I desire for a future Cuba".
This Saturday's message concludes with a straightforward statement of principles: "Personally, I will denounce the crimes of a dictatorship until the end. I am only interested in being at peace with myself, with my conscience, and, above all, being the best example for my children. Let them be the ones to judge me..." And it finishes with two direct phrases: "Down with the dictatorship. Freedom for all political prisoners."
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