A video published on Facebook by the Cuban activist Osmani Pardo Guerra, host of the podcast Entre Dos Mundos, has generated numerous reactions on social media for the gesture of solidarity it displays.
The clip shows the moment when two Cuban teenagers, in school uniforms, stop in front of a man experiencing homelessness. They open their backpacks, hand him a piece of bread, and pour some of the soda they had for a snack.
The scene was captured from a distance by someone who recorded them without their notice. The man they are helping appears thin, barefoot, in tattered clothing, and with a cart loaded with cardboard and old bags.
"They open the backpack. They take out the snack container. They serve it. They hand over the bread. Just like that, without a camera in between, without asking for applause, without thinking twice," Pardo Guerra wrote while sharing the video.
The gesture takes on a special significance when one understands what that snack represents in today's Cuba. For many students, that bread and that soda are the only food they have to endure the school day.
"You have to be Cuban to understand the value of that snack," the activist noted. "That bread and that little soda are not extras in any household. Many times, it's the only thing the child has to get through the day. And still... they shared it."
It is not the first time that acts of solidarity among Cubans go viral in the midst of the crisis. What sets this video apart is the age of the protagonists and the sincerity of the gesture. They are two teenagers who, without an audience and without recognition, gave what is essential.
The comments on the post ranged from excitement and Cuban pride to sadness.
"It is beautiful and sad at the same time. How powerful!" wrote an internet user. Another user noted, "This attitude, which is rare today among Cuban youth, has left me speechless."
"The Cuban is of good feelings, humble, supportive, and humanistic. All he needs is to be free from the dictatorship that has been imposed on him," said a third party.
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