On what would have been the 42nd birthday of her brother Yassel Díaz Vázquez, who died in the explosion at the Saratoga Hotel in Havana, Thalía López posted a message on that combines the pain of grief with a demand for justice that the Cuban regime has been ignoring for over four years.
"Today my brother Yassel Díaz would be turning 42 years old. But he was a victim of the explosion at the Saratoga hotel. We never imagined that his workplace would be the most dangerous," wrote Thalía, whose post encapsulates the plea of a family still without answers.
Yassel was 38 years old when he passed away on May 6, 2022, due to a liquefied petroleum gas leak during the supply from a tanker truck that caused a blast, partially destroying the seven-story hotel building located on Paseo del Prado, in front of the Havana Capitol.
I had been working at that establishment for about a decade, managed by the Gaviota group, which is linked to the Cuban Armed Forces.
His sister remembers that he was a professionally trained linguist, creator of the "Saratoga 500" cocktail, and responsible for attending to international public figures during his time there.
Thalía asks if it's normal for a hotel to explode and no one gives an answer.
And she warns that her family's silence should not be interpreted as acceptance: "Let no one confuse our silence with forgetfulness or resignation. Remembering is also a demand for justice. Because his life had immeasurable worth, and no family should have to learn to live with such a devastating loss without truth, without answers, and without the legally corresponding responsibilities being established."
The young woman emphasizes that they are not asking for revenge, but for justice, truth, and a clarification of what has happened. "Because the passage of time does not erase the facts, nor does it bring back lost lives."
And it concludes with a phrase that summarizes four years of waiting: "Justice should not depend on the time that passes, the silence that is kept, or the pain that a family can endure."
The Saratoga explosion claimed 47 lives and left 99 injured, among them four minors, a pregnant woman, and more than 25 hotel workers.
Four and a half years after the tragedy, the Cuban government has not published a complete technical report on the causes nor judicial sentences against those responsible.
The International Labour Organization intervened in April 2024, following a complaint from the Independent Trade Union Association of Cuba, and requested that the investigation be concluded and sanctions determined, but to date, there are no verifiable public results.
The 22 families from the adjacent building at Prado 609, displaced since May 2022, had also been unable to return to their homes in May 2025, when the construction was still in the foundation phase.
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