The Cuban boxer Yordenis Ugás reignited social media this Tuesday with a message on X that spared no one: he equally questioned Democrats and Republicans regarding their ties to socialism and authoritarian regimes, in a post that expands on his critical and independent stance towards the U.S. political power.
“Who are the communists in the United States right now?”, asked the former world welterweight champion of the WBA. His answer pointed in two directions: “The Democrats bringing socialists and far-left radicals to the elections and the Republicans, or specifically this president, doing direct business with socialists and tyrants of the world. This is unbelievable.”
The message comes just four days after Ugás criticized the oil agreement between the U.S. and Russia, announced on October 9, which provides for the supply of over 4.8 million tons of Russian diesel and for which the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General License 135, temporarily authorizing its import to the U.S. until April 2027.
On that occasion, the boxer directly accused President Donald Trump of siding "with Russia" and providing resources to finance the war against Ukraine, a stance that aligned with that of Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski and with several Republican legislators who also opposed the agreement.
The new message elevates that criticism to a more structural level: it is no longer just about a specific agreement, but about the bipartite system as a whole.
That moral coherence —pointing out what one considers wrong regardless of which side it comes from— is a constant in Ugás's activism. In November 2024, the boxer called for the non-partisan unity of Cubans to support political prisoners, urging Republicans and Democrats to set aside their differences for a common cause.
In August 2026, he stated that he does not give a "blank check" to any politician and that he has never publicly asked people to vote for a specific candidate. That same month, Ugás defended anonymous political prisoners in Cuba, warning that calling for support only for popular figures "for the sake of trend" harms the cause of all those imprisoned.
His activism also has a symbolic dimension inside the ring. In his match in Hermosillo, Mexico, in June 2026, he wore the names of lesser-known political prisoners, including Ángel Jesús Veliz Marcano, Lirandis Góngora, and Amalia Álvarez, among others.
The Trump-Putin energy agreement that sparked this new round of criticism also conflicts with a sanctions law passed by the Senate on August 7, 2026, with 86 votes in favor and 11 against, aimed precisely at limiting Russia's energy revenues.
Meanwhile, the cause that Ugás has been defending for years shows no signs of respite: Prisoners Defenders recorded 1,327 political prisoners in Cuba at the end of July 2026, the highest number reported to date.
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